With the Philadelphia Phillies holding a 2-0 lead in the best of seven National League Championship Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers desperately needed a win at home to stay within striking distance in the series. In Game 3, the Dodgers wasted little time in making that happen.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Dodgers scored five runs and the Phillies never were able to get back into the game. After giving up another run in the second inning, starting pitcher Jamie Moyer was pulled for Philadelphia. All told, Moyer gave up six earned runs in less than two innings.
On …read more

On Monday, both the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays advanced in the American League playoffs. The two AL East teams will now play each other, with the Rays having home field advantage in the best of seven series.
To advance, the Red Sox got a big hit from rookie Jed Lowrie. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Lowrie delivered a series winning single against the Los Angeles Angels to end the game. Scoring the winning run was Jason Bay as the Red Sox won 3-2.
The Rays had a hero of their own on …read more

The 100 year curse looks to be alive and breathing. The Chicago Cubs lost their first playoff game in 2008 by a final score of 7-2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
At first, things looked fine for Chicago. They got up 2-0 by scoring two in the bottom of the second inning. But then James Looney of the Dodgers hit a grand slam in the top of the fifth inning to put Los Angeles up for good.
Not surprisingly, Manny Ramirez shined for the Dodgers. He was 2-4 with a walk, two runs, an RBI and a homer run. Derek …read more

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Twins will play the Chicago White Sox for a spot in the 2008 baseball playoffs. Both teams finished with a record of 88-74 and must play game number 163 to determine who has to right to advance to the postseason.
To even force this final game, the White Sox had to beat the Detroit Tigers on Monday. They did so by a final score of 8-2. The big hit in the game was authored by second baseman Alexei Ramirez in the form of a grand slam.
While the Twins have been playing well recently, the White Sox come …read more

The picture for the 2008 Major League Baseball playoffs is starting to clear up. Two more teams — the Chicago Cubs and the Tampa Bay Rays — clinched their playoff berth on Saturday.
For both teams, the playoffs weren’t a foregone conclusion coming into the 2008 season. The Cubs aren’t exactly known for their postseason prowess, having not won the World Series since 1908. One hundred year droughts tend to calm optimism.
On the other hand, the Rays had never even made the playoffs. Entering 2008, many had Tampa Bay pegged as the worst team in the American League East. …read more

As the Tampa Bay Rays fight to make the playoffs, one of their biggest fans came out to show some support. Dwight Howard, the behemoth center on the Orlando Magic, threw out the first pitch and then stayed to catch the game. You can see the Dwight Howard video at the end of this entry.
Currently, the Tampa Bay Rays are in first place in the American League East, however their lead is minimal. Only 1.5 games up on the Boston Red Sox, the Rays will have to play well down the stretch to hold off the reigning World …read more

In a somewhat shocking turn of events, the Milwaukee Brewers have fired manager Ned Yost. What makes it shocking is that the Brewers are actually tied in the National League Wild Card race and there is about two weeks left in the baseball season. Rarely do managers get fired this late in the season with the playoffs still clearly in sight.
To replace Yost, the Brewers have selected third-base coach Dale Sveum. Sveum will try to turn around a team that has lost seven of their last eight games. Prior to this losing skid, Milwaukee seemed like a shoo-in …read more