Quick Review of Yesterday's Games: ALDS Day 2

Rockies 5, Phillies 4: Cole Hamels didn't pitch well and then ran to the hospital to be with his wife who was in labor. One of the pitches hit out? A Cole Hamels curveball by Yorvit Torrealba (who took inspiration from his son) which was a first for both of them this season. Then Charlie Manuel decided to dump out the starters out of the bullpen, pitching possible Game 3 starters JA Happ (who got hurt) and Joe Blanton (as well as my favorite-named pitcher, BASTARDO!). Some liked this move, others did not. The Phillies weren't able to come back despite rallying to make it a one-run game and putting two on in the 9th. There was a little role reversal in Philly and the Rockies offense looked revitalized. Now they're heading back to Colorado where it looks like it will snow, tied at 1 game a piece and Pedro Martinez will be on the mound (unless he decides to move Blanton into the rotation after throwing the inning in relief or use Happ coming back from injury). Charlie Manuel intends to keep everyone guessing on who his Game 3 starter will be. That could spell trouble for the Phillies. Also could doom the Phillies? Putting star starting pitchers in to pinch run. After Matt Stairs got on base, the Phillies pinch ran Cliff Lee for him. I know Cliff Lee had a stolen base the day before, but why take the chance? Now Philly goes from being in the driver's seat to needing to pull at least one game out of their hat in Colorado.

Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2: My roommate Ari, a Mets fan, said to me "it seems like Matt Holliday already thinks he's on the Mets." Let's be fair, the reason that the Cardinals had the lead in the first place was because of Holliday's home run and Ryan Franklin didn't have to give up another run. So there is blame to go around. But I don't think that will diminish the pain as the image is rebroadcasted of the catch (and maybe some Dewey-Truman-esque headlines). The one person who is probably happy? Luis Castillo who's dropped pop-up against the Yankees pales in comparison and significance. Adam Wainwright (who pitched brilliantly in a wasted effort) said it was the towels, but Matt Holliday said it was the light. I guess that's manning up, but it's still a loss. Let's see how the "best fans in baseball" react to him down 2-0. The Cards are indeed playing like their division rivals, the Cubs. Although victory dropped into the Dodgers' laps, let's give some credit to the Dodgers for not giving up and also their depth as they are on the cusp of another NLCS.

Angels 5, Red Sox 0: Red Sox fans, C.B. Bucknor did not lose this game for you; John Lackey just shut you down. Even if "Constantly Bad" Bucknor didn't make that call, they still would have had to score off of Lackey who out-aced Jon Lester. Lackey is making a play for a big free agent contract after a dominating performance, mixed with some revenge. Big Papi's 3rd strikeout of the game ended things in SoCal and, for one night, seemed to put an end to a hex, shifted the psychology, and made people believe that the Angels may be able to beat the Red Sox. Torii Hunter, a classic bad ball hitter, crushed a bad pitch by Lester (who was not great) and that was that. Now Josh Beckett has a lot of weight on his shoulders after being injured during last year's postseason as he tries to overcome the Angels, the Thunderstix and the Rally Monkey to salvage a split in Anaheim . If the Red Sox can get a game here, it may be tough for the Angels to win in Boston.

Today:

• 6 PM game: Twins @ Yankees - Blackburn vs. Burnett. I've written about the catching situation for AJ, but a few others have their opinion as well. Ian O'Connor considers this an "E-2" for Girardi. Jack Curry says that Posada is a spectator with AJ pitching. The Hartford Courant's Jeff Jacobs says that Posada needs to settle down and I agree with him; there's a fine line between being vocal about wanting to play and being a whiny cancer in the clubhouse by making this awkward for everyone involved. Sam Borden has Jose Molina's take and Joe Girardi's take on the situation. More in a little bit on this game before I head down to the Stadium
• Late game: Red Sox @ Angels - Josh Beckett vs. Jered Weaver. One totally legit criticism I heard about last night's game was that TBS couldn't get anything right as FanGraphs talks about: they went to commercial at the wrong times, they missed replays and graphics, and they just seemed a bit off, especially coming back from commercial late. Between that and Chip Caray's "verbal slump" as The New York Times calls it, TBS has had a worse playoff start than Matt Holliday and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Back later with more...