Meanwhile, back in the ALCS, we still have to figure out which team the NL champion Rockies will face in the World Series. The Indians have taken a 2-1 series lead over the Red Sox. Game 4 is Tuesday night in Cleveland, first pitch 5 p.m. PT.
Kenny Lofton provided the big blow in Game 3 with his two-out, two-run homer off Daisuke Matsuzaka in the second. Lofton apparently didn’t get the memo that it’s no longer 1995.
On the other side, Boston desperately needs someone other than Josh Beckett to pitch a good game. Tim Wakefield will be the latest to …read more

Congrats to the Cleveland Indians for beating the Yankees in their house Monday night to take their ALDS, three games to one. In three of four series so far, the team with the much smaller payroll has won (salaries in millions; source, Cot’s Baseball Contracts):
Red Sox: $143.0
Angels: $109.3
Indians: $61.7
Yankees: $189.6
Diamondbacks: $52.1
Cubs: $99.7
Rockies: $54.4
Phillies: $89.4
If you’d seeded the playoff teams by money spent on salary, here’s what it would have looked like:

Yankees
Red Sox
Angels
Cubs
Phillies
Indians
Rockies
Diamondbacks

Three of the four teams from the bottom half have advanced the LCS. One of the two smallest salaried teams in the dance is guaranteed to reach the World …read more