The baseball playoffs have begun! The first game of the playoffs is already completed. Sadly for the local fans, the Oakland Athletics were defeated 7-5 by the visiting Minnesota Twins. The A's looked to have this game well in hand early on; thanks to three Minnesota errors in the first two innings, the Athletics shot out to a 5-1 lead. Unfortunately, they would not score any more runs all day. Starting pitcher Tim Hudson apparently had trouble with his command; the Twins steadily whittled away the lead. When Hudson hit the showers in the fifth inning, they had closed the gap to 5-4. The Twins pulled ahead of the A's to stay, and held the A's off quite nicely to seal their victory.
The Athletics are now in a bit of hole, trailing 1-0 in this five-game series. If they lose tomorrow's game, they will be a world of hurt, having to fly to Minnesota and win two games to avoid elimination. If they win tomorrow behind ace lefty Mark Mulder, they'll still need to win at least one game in the Metrodome. The Metrodome is not a friendly place for visiting teams in the playoffs. I still think the A's will win this series, but it will take five games now, not four as I originally thought. (I wanted to write this yesterday, but I got distracted by being tired.)
The San Francisco Giants begin their playoff run tomorrow morning in Atlanta. Russ Ortiz faces off against Braves star Tom Glavine. That series should be very close. I think that the Braves' spotty offense will counterbalance their excellent pitching, resulting in a narrow Giants series victory, three games to two. But that could easily fall apart either way. The Giants have a recent history of not hitting in the postseason. In 2000, a superior Giants offense completely faltered against some very ordinary New York Met pitchers. Ditto in 1998 in a one-game playoff against the Cubs, and also see 1997 versus the eventual champion Florida Marlins.
The Braves have a tremendous amount of experience in the postseason, but they have also failed a tremendous amount too. Despite making the playoffs 11 years running, they have only one World Series victory to their credit. They are quite capable of another postseason collapse. Then again, so are the Giants.
The keys for the Giants will be Jeff Kent and Benito Santiago. Kent has to get on base a lot, giving Bonds people to drive in, and forcing the Braves not to walk Bonds. When Bonds is walked, which will be often, it'll be up to Santiago to follow up and drive in some runs. If Kent and Santiago have big series, the Giants will win.
On the tube right now, the Anaheim Angels are squaring off against the mighty New York Yankees. Of course, I would love to see the hated Yankees depart the postseason early. How are the Angels going to overcome that October Yankee mystique, though? The A's couldn't do it last year, despite having their boots on the Yankees' throats. The Diamondbacks needed every last ounce of good luck and clutch hitting to barely beat the Yankees in seven games last year. How are these plucky Angels going to beat the Yankees? I'd love to lay out some logical reasons, but I just don't see it. The Yankees roll on, wining in four games.
Finally, there's the Arizona Diamondbacks against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Diamondbacks are limping into the playoffs. Their best hitter, Luis Gonzalez, is out for the postseason with a separated shoulder. Their sparkplug, Craig Counsell, is also gone. Ditto Danny Bautista. Their starting lineup is close to being called a shambles. Worse, pitching ace Curt Schilling has turned suddenly mortal in the last month. He's been beaten badly in his last two starts, and in a one-inning relief appearance on Sunday, he gave up another three-run homer. Arizona is depending on Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling to pin down the Cardinals so their hitters can beat them to death. But if Curt isn't right, the D-Backs don't have nearly enough hitters left to overcome the potent Cardinal offense.
Conversely, these Cardinals are on an absolute mission. Considered by many to be the class of the National League even before the season started, they've been unified and energized by the twin tragedies they faced over the summer. After the deaths of announcer Jack Buck and starting pitcher Darryl Kile, manager Tony LaRussa really brought the team together. They're playing with a sense of purpose, dedicating the season to their fallen friends. The trade for Scott Rolen fortified the Cardinals substantially. Very quietly, they've made the playoffs, and I think they simply have too much for the Diamondbacks to overcome. Cardinals win in five games, though Randy Johnson wins two games for the defending champions.