In the AL, things were a lot different. The Orioles took an early lead, but gave it right back before a rain delay held things up. The rain delay would prove to provide an exciting end of the day. While this was going on, the Yankees were taking a commanding lead on the Rays, 7-0. But the Rays weren’t willing to give up. They scored six runs in the eighth inning and made it a ballgame again. Then in the ninth inning, the Rays were down one run with 2 out and 2 strikes on Dan Johnson, when he hit a game tying homer to force extra innings.

Back in Baltimore, the Red Sox were leading in the ninth inning and they could determine their own destiny. If they win, they at least get a chance to play the Rays for the playoffs. Papelbon entered the game to close it out and as Jim Rome stated, “These dude’s are overmatched against Papelbon. This freak is DEALING.” Literally minutes afterwards, the Orioles tied the game and preceded to beat the Red Sox in the ninth inning. The Orioles celebrated like they won the pennant, but you can’t blame them, they haven’t played a meaningful game in a really long time.

The Red Sox would retreat to the clubhouse to depend on the Yankees to bail them out (isn’t that ironic). Before the Red Sox could even settle into the clubhouse (seemingly 90 seconds after the Orioles won), Evan Longoria hit a walk-off game winning home-run to beat the Yankees. The Red Sox completed a colossal collapse, and did it in dramatic fashion.

If you take a moment and think about it rationally, the Yankees would have rather had the Red Sox in the playoffs since they are in a major slump right now and they prove to be the least threatening. But then again, the Rays have a better chance of beating the Rangers in the Divisional Round, and the Yankees should have confidence that they can beat the Rays in a series (or at least a better chance than beating the Rangers).

At the end of the day, the playoffs are set. The Detroit Tigers will play the Yankees while the Texas Rangers will play the Rays in the AL. In the NL, the Arizona Diamondbacks will play the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cards will play the Phillies. Stayed tuned for my official predictions.

[Photo Credit: AP Photo/David J. Phillip via crescent-news.com]

As bad as this call was, and it was pretty bad, even Julio Lugo was shocked that he was safe (watch his reaction at 1:36), it wasn’t the worst call in MLB history. It wasn’t even the worst call in past 5 years… actually it wasn’t even the worst call in the past two seasons.

Let us not forget, the blown call in the ninth inning with two outs during Armando Galarraga’s should-be-perfect game. Watch this replay, with Jim Joyce explaining how he couldn’t believe he missed it.

Yes, the Pirates lost the game as a result of the play (they are appealing the call), but there was no guarantee that they would win the game had the call been correct. Yes, it cost them first place, but there are plenty of games left.

Joyce didn’t cost the Tigers the game, he didn’t miss a call in the fourth inning of an otherwise perfect game, he missed a call that literally would have completed the perfect game. A perfect game is much harder to come by, and poor Galarraga will never come that close again. The Pirates lost a game, but one out of 162 is small compared to once in a lifetime. Let’s keep things in perspective.

This leads to the discussion that MLB needs to expand instant replay to include game ending plays… which is another post in itself.

Photo Credit: Harry How/Getty Images via ESPN

The two most notable sweeps were the New York Yankees sweeping the Texas Rangers in a three game series and the Boston Red Sox sweeping the Toronto Blue Jays in a three game series. Both the Rangers and the Blue Jays had not been swept at all this season, until these respective series. Now every team in the MLB has been swept at least once. Only two teams have not swept another team this season: the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

The Cleveland Indians added their MLB leading 8th sweep, while the Atlanta Braves moved into first place for the best sweep-swept winning percentage (.857). By far the team playing the worst baseball over the past two weeks was the Florida Marlins, who were swept a remarkable three times. In fact the Marlins are 2-15 since June 7th, which has caused them to drop from 3rd place and only 4 games back to last place and 14 games back.

One potential sweep that saw the final game in the series rained out earlier in the year was completed, with the Detroit Tigers completing the three game sweep over the Tampa Bay Rays.

That will do it for this recap, to see how your favorite team is doing in 2-game, 3-game and 4-game series be sure to check out the MLB Sweep Tracker.

The Cincinnati Reds made the playoffs for the first time in 15 years and they have tons of momentum. The Atlanta Braves will look to send Bobby Cox out of the MLB as a champion. The San Francisco Giants held off the San Diego Padres in a match-up that literally came down to the last game of the season. The Texas Rangers finally overcame the Los Angeles Angels in the AL West. The Tampa Bay Rays return to the playoffs two seasons removed from winning the AL Pennant in 2008. Then there are the familiar faces – the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins all return to the postseason this year.

October baseball is always great and this season will not be any different. Here is how I see it playing out:

AL Wild Card Match-Up
New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins
Last season the Yankees competed against the Twins in the first round of the playoffs. The result a three game sweep for the Yankees, who went on to with their 27th World Series Championship. The Yankees have the type of offense that can carry acceptable pitching. First, they need to get some acceptable pitching. C.C. Sabathia is as good as they come and will be relied on as the workhorse that he is. Pettitte should live up to his postseason expectations, but they will need Hughes and Burnett to step up big time. Last season the Yankees were able to win the World Series on a three man rotation, this season they will need more than that. The Twins will have home field advantage in this match-up and that should help them avoid the sweep (but the cold is nothing new to the Yankees). Joe Mauer’s knee is a real question mark and if he is not effective the Twins might have some trouble- especially with Morneau out for the year.
Prediction: Yankees 3 – Twins 1
Bottom Line: The Yankees offense will carry them.

AL Divisional Match-Up
Texas Rangers vs Tampa Bay Rays
The Rangers have made the postseason for the first time since 1999 and they should prove to be a tough match-up for the Rays. The Rangers finally have some pitching to go along with their potent offense. I actually like the Rangers staff (Lee, Lewis, Hunter, Wilson) over the Rays staff (Price, Shields, Garza, Davis). Both teams have speed, but the Rangers have more pop. Josh Hamilton, one of the leading AL MVP candidates, looked good over the last couple of games after returning from a rib injury.
Prediction: Rangers 3 – Rays 2
Bottom Line: The Rangers will out-pitch and out-slug the Rays.

NL Wild Card Match-Up
Atlanta Braves vs San Francisco Giants
The Braves really struggled down the stretch, and were lucky to still make the playoffs. The Giants and Braves both made the playoffs with wins on the last day and this should be a tough match-up. The Giants have the upper hand in pitching, but they certainly can struggle to score runs at times. I expect a low scoring series, but the injuries to Chipper Jones and Martin Prado are going to hurt the Braves line-up. Both clubs have great closers – Wagner (ATL) and Wilson (SF) – that know how to strike a batter out.
Prediction: Giants 3 – Braves 2
Bottom Line: The Braves just don’t have enough offense.

NL Divisional Match-Up
Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies
The Reds are “lucky” enough to play the team with the best record in the MLB in their first postseason series in fifteen years. The Phillies have the better starting rotation, but the Reds do have a leading MVP candidate in Joey Votto. The Reds staff has less innings than the Phillies’ H2O (Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt) and that might play a factor in this series. Each member of H2O has over 200 innings while only Arroyo has more than 200 innings for the Reds. If the Phillies make it past the Reds, the innings may creep up on them. Also, it will be interesting to see how Halladay performs in his first ever postseason start. Interesting stat- The Reds are the only team to score more runs than the Phillies in the National League this season. Also, let’s not forget about the dominant starting rotation of the 2009 Cardinals, that didn’t seem to work out too well.
Prediction: Reds 3 – Phillies 2
Bottom Line: The Reds are fresh and the Phillies’ offense hasn’t been consistent enough.

AL Championship
New York Yankees vs Texas Rangers
The Rangers and Yankees split their season series (4-4) and will look to settle the score on the field when it really matters. The Rangers have a slight edge in pitching and but the Yankees have a deeper line-up when things are clicking. Both teams have leading MVP candidates (Hamilton and Cano), and this should be a thrilling series.
Prediction: Yankees 4 – Rangers 3
Bottom Line: The Yankees are more experienced and that should help them prevail.

NL Championship
Cincinnati Reds vs San Francisco Giants
If you had told me at the beginning of the season that the Reds and Giants would be battling for the NL Pennant, I would have thought you were crazy. This game is going to come down to whether or not the Giants can keep up with the Reds offensively.
Prediction: Reds 4 – Giants 2
Bottom Line: The Reds will be able to outscore the Giants pretty comfortably.

World Series
New York Yankees vs Cincinnati Reds
The Reds would have home field advantage in this match-up since the National League was able to win the All-Star game. The Yankees did not face the Reds during the regular season and both teams should match-up in terms of pitching. The two differences will be experience and hitting. The Yankees have by far the more potent offense, with three players surpassing the 100 RBI mark (compared to one for the Reds). Home field advantage will be important for the Reds, since it forces the Yankees to take a bat out of the line-up.
Prediction: Yankees 4 – Reds 2
Bottom Line: The Yankees have too much fire power on offense and they have a true dominant ace, unlike the Reds.

What are your thoughts? Agree or not, let me know in the comments!

[Photo Credit: BigLeagueBaseballs.com]

Last week had a few significant events that occurred, and here they are:

• The Yankees were the first team this season with 100 wins. They also were the first to clinch a division title (actually they did it the same day the Cardinals did it in the NL Central). The Yankees did it against the arch-rival Red Sox, they actually swept them for the second time this season. The sweep erased the 0-8 start that they had against the Red Sox. They finished the season series 9-9 and are looking sharp for the playoffs.
• The Angels were 1 game away from clinching the AL West division, and they did so on 9/28 with their win over Texas.
• Don’t count the Atlanta Braves out just yet. The have been struggling lately going 4-6 over the past 10, while the Braves are on a 7 game win streak and have pulled within 4 games of the division lead, and 2 of the wild card. San Francisco and Florida have basically been eliminated from the Wild Card (Marlins magic number is 1, and SFs magic number is 2). It is going to be an interesting stretch run as the Braves have a much easier schedule than the Rockies down the stretch.
• Billy Butler had a monster week in fantasy production he was 11 for 26 (.423 BA) with 3 HRs, 9 RBIs, 6 runs scored. The Royals actually have something to give to Fantasy baseball besides Greinke. If you were a Morneau owner, and are still looking for a replacement- he’s the guy (especially if doubles count- he has 50).
• Since I mentioned Grienke, I think I should mention that he has only allowed 2 ER in his past 42 IP. Wow, he has a chance to finish the season with an ERA under 2.00 (currently at 2.06), which would be ridiculous.
• Ryan Howard has 14 RBIs in the past 7 games and has jumped to be tied for the lead with Prince Fielder with 137 on the year.
• The previous Weekly review mentioned only two candidates for the NL CY Young- I must correct that entry by saying the clear front runner is Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals. He is 19-8 with a 2.58 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 204Ks in 227IP on a division champion.
• One of the AL CY Young front runner seems to be C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia has eerily similar numbers to Wainwright- 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 194Ks in 227IP on a division champion. Greinke will probably win it despite being on a horrible team because his numbers are filthy (see above).
• Quick Fantasy update from my two leagues- so far so good, if the championship was one week I would have 2 more first place trophies to add to my collection. Hopefully, I can maintain my lead for the final week.

That is going to do it for this week’s review- only one week left in the regular season. The two races to focus on this week will be the AL Central between the Twins and Tigers and the NL Wild Card between the Braves and Rockies.

Once the season closes, be sure to look for the MikesPickz Playoff Predictions.

I am a three time Fantasy Baseball Champion on Yahoo, with two 2nd place finishes in the total of 8 leagues I have played in since I started in 2004. Feel free to e-mail me, post a question in the MikesPickz Forum, post a question in the comment section below, or send me a tweet, as I am always happy to help.