Major League baseball playoffs/world series

[Kooperman]

Who are you rooting for?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9057046/

[DudeAsInCool]

The New York Yankees...and it ain't gonna be easy...

[method77]

Blue Jays

Are they in?

[Kooperman]

Blue Jays

Are they in?

in the toilet...

[method77]

blah

[MrBag]

Only someone from philadelphia would say the Phillies....Hmmm.. The Phillies

[DudeAsInCool]

Yanks Crush D - Rays 17 - 3, Gain on Red Sox

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Jason Giambi hit his 30th homer and drove in five runs, helping the New York Yankees rout the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 17-3 Tuesday night to nudge closer to first-place Boston in the AL East.

Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada had four RBIs apiece, and the Yankees climbed a season-high 19 games over .500 to pull within 2 1/2 games of the Red Sox.

http://nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-BBA-...Devil-Rays.html

[DudeAsInCool]

Yanks sweep 3 games in a row from Tampa Bay, move to 1.5 games behind Boston in the East and a half game in the wild card race against Cleveland :)

[Kooperman]

I'm an Astros fan. They're currently leading for the NL wild card playoff berth, but I don't think they're good enough offensively to win. Wednesday's game was the most inspiring game I can recall in many years...Roger Clemens' mother, who he worshipped, passed away that morning after a long, long battle with emphysema. Rather than leave the team to be with his family, Clemens stayed to pitch a crucial game against the team ahead of them in the wild card standings. He dedicated his effort to the memory of his mother...and after a shaky first inning he ended up pitching brilliantly into the 7th inning, allowing only one run and getting a huge victory for his inspired teammates.

[DudeAsInCool]

Yanks beat Baltimore 3-2, pull into a half game behind Boston in the Division race, who lost to Tampa Bay 8 :) Cleveland pulls it out against the White Sox (whose 15 game lead since August has dwindled to a few)--so the Yanks are a game and a half behind in the wild card race Either way, it looks like the Yanks are coming on :)

[DudeAsInCool]

Yanks and Boston both win, but Cleveland loses - the Yanks are now a half game behind Boston for the Pennant, and a half game behind Cleveland in the wild card race.

How are your other teams doing?

[DudeAsInCool]

NY Yankees 2, Baltimore 1

NEW YORK (AP) -- Randy Johnson was his old self, glaring and pointing. The Big Unit not only made it into the late innings, he pitched the New York Yankees into first place.

Johnson limited the Baltimore Orioles to three hits over eight innings in his first start since a second-inning ejection last week, and Matt Lawton broke out of a long slump with a two-run homer that carried the Yankees to a 2-1 victory Wednesday night.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=Aiw...B?gid=250921110

[MrBag]

C'mon Phillies.........

[CTC Command]

I am so laughing at all the stupid Red Sox fans this morning... :rotfl:

*written by a former fan who quit watching the sport entirely after game 6 of the '86 World Series...

[DudeAsInCool]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Jorge Posada hit a tying home run in the fifth inning, then added a three-run, upper-deck drive in the sixth that backed starterMike Mussina in his return from elbow trouble and led the New York Yankees over the Baltimore Orioles 7-6 on Thursday night.

A night after moving past the Boston Red Sox to take over first place in the AL East for the first time since July 18, the Yankees won for the 10th time in 11 games and opened a season-high one-game lead with 10 remaining.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=250922110

[DudeAsInCool]

With 5 games remaining for each, Yanks, Cleveland, Boston in dead heat for wild card race, with Yanks and Boston tied for the Division. Its all gonna come down this weekend when Boston and NY face off

Boston (6)

92

65

--

5

 Cleveland (6)

92

65

--

5

 NY Yankees (6)

92

65

--

5

[Kooperman]

Sorry Dude, but the lack of middle relief pitching has killed the Yankees all year, making this showdown necessary...and the Yanks will be going home empty-handed. The Indians, who are tied for the wild card spot with the Red Sox and Yankees, will benefit from this showdown, especially if there's a sweep by either team. The Red Sox aren't as solid as last year, but they're at home and I look for them to win at least 2 of the 3 games. The Yankees, meanwhile, have a pitching staff in even more disarray than the Sox...I'm not sure they can get games to Mariano Rivera in save positions at this point.

[DudeAsInCool]

Then perhaps you ought to look at tonights scores... Yankees win behind Chacon-Gordon-Rivera 2-1. Boston and Cleveland lost. The Yanks are 1 game ahead of Boston with 4 games to play - 1 more in Baltimore before the final showdown 3 with the Bosox

[DudeAsInCool]

Wild Card:

In addition to the six division champions, the non-division winner with the best record from each league also makes the playoffs.

American League

In the East, the NY Yankees 93-65 are up one game over Boston 92- 66, with 4 games remaining, and the last three against Boston for the Division Championship.

In the Central Division, the Chi White Sox  95-63 are several games up over Cleveland

92-66 and look like a shoe-in...unless they lose their remaining games and Cleveland wins all of theirs

In theWest, the LA Angels 91-67 have won their division.

National League

In the East Division, Atlanta 90-69 has easily swept their division.

In the Central Division,   St. Louis 97-62 was the easy winner.

In the West Division, San Diego was the reigning champ despite a lackluster record of

79-79.

***

In each Division Series, the wild-card winner plays the champion from another division with the best record.

The Wild Card teams in contention are:

In the American League: Boston 92-66 and  Cleveland  92-66, each with 4 games left

In the National League: Houston 87-71 with 4 games left and Philly 85-74 with 3 games left

***

So, Koop, would you like to handicap the rest?

[DudeAsInCool]

In the Central Division, the Chi White Sox  95-63 are several games 92-66 and look like a shoe-in...unless they lose their remaining games and Cleveland wins all of theirs

Chicago won today, they are the Division Champ in the Midwest.

[DudeAsInCool]

Cleveland beat Tampa Bay 6-0, Boston came from behind to beat Toronto 5-4 and NY Yankees beat Baltimore 8-4. So its down to the wire for all the above with the Yankees facing off against Boston for the next 3 games.

[MrBag]

'Com On Phillies

[DudeAsInCool]

Boston 5 NY 3 Final as Boston wins and is now tied in a deadheat with the Yanks with two game remaining

No slugfest tonight--Wells held the line for Boston and Boston scored 3 in the sixth on a couple of singles, a walk and a wild pitch to make the difference

Tomorrow its back in Boston with Randy Johnson pitching for the Yanks

[Kooperman]

Yanks and Red Sox caught a break tonight because the Indians lost in 13 innings to the White Sox.

[Kooperman]

Here are the playoff possibilities concerning the Sox, Yanks and Indians, with two games left to play:

CHI 2 CLE 0 - BOS 2 NYY 0: BOS wins division, NYY wins WC (no playoff), CLE out

CHI 2 CLE 0 - BOS 1 NYY 1: NYY wins division, BOS wins WC (no playoff), CLE out

CHI 2 CLE 0 - BOS 0 NYY 2: NYY wins division, BOS wins WC (no playoff), CLE out

CHI 1 CLE 1 - BOS 2 NYY 0: BOS wins division, NYY plays CLE in playoff game for WC

CHI 1 CLE 1 - BOS 1 NYY 1: NYY wins division, BOS wins WC, CLE out

CHI 1 CLE 1 - BOS 0 NYY 2: NYY wins division, BOS plays CLE in playoff game for WC

CHI 0 CLE 2 - BOS 2 NYY 0: BOS wins division, CLE wins WC, NYY out

CHI 0 CLE 2 - BOS 1 NYY 1: BOS plays NYY for division, then loser plays CLE for WC

CHI 0 CLE 2 - BOS 0 NYY 2: NYY wins division, CLE wins WC, BOS out

If Boston and New York split the last two games and Cleveland beats Chicago twice, there would be a one-game playoff Monday at Yankee Stadium for the AL East title, with the loser playing the Indians on Tuesday for the wild-card berth.

If Boston and New York are tied and Cleveland can't match them, the Yankees would win the East and the Red Sox the wild card because New York will have won the season series against Boston.