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World Series 2011 preview

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MlbHlSqThe first pitch of the 2011 World Series will be thrown at 1.05 a.m. in the early hours of Thursday morning UK time.

Whether it amounts to a late start after keeping awake thoughout Wednesday evening or a very early start if you get some sleep beforehand, it’s a moment not to be missed.

The 2011 climax to the regular season was one of the most spectacular and dramatic of recent times and the first two rounds of the postseason have been full of excitement too.  Everything points to the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers serving up a fitting end to a great year.

The Texas Rangers are making a return trip to the Fall Classic after losing out to the San Francisco Giants last year.  They have been driven on by the disappointment all season, determined to make amends and secure the organization’s first World Series at the second attempt. 

They have that experience to draw on and will be keen to get off to a quick start in the series.  Winning one, or even both, of the first two games in St. Louis before heading back to Arlington would always be the objective; however it may be even more important than usual for this Rangers team.  If they fall behind, the memories of their 2010 heartbreak could turn from being a motivation to being a millstone around their necks.  Continue reading →

Championship Series action and off-the-field drama

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CovHlWEThere’s no doubt that the off-the-field goings on in Boston (and potentially in Chicago) are capturing the headlines so far on Wednesday. 

However, Game Three of the NLCS and Game Four of the ALCS should get everyone back talking about the action on the field, for a while at least.

Game Four of the ALCS begins at 21.19 BST on Wednesday evening with Nat Coombs and Josh Chetwynd covering all the talking points live on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra from 21.00.  The Texas Rangers lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 over the Detroit Tigers.

Doug Fister pitched brilliantly for Detroit to get them back into the series on Tuesday; however the Tigers know that it was only the first stage in their recovery from losing the first two games of the series in Texas.

Game Three was a ‘must win’ contest for them and you could say the same about Wednesday’s Game Four as well.  A victory for the Rangers would give them a 3-1 series lead and leave the Tigers needing to win all three remaining games.  That can be done, but it will be a very tough proposition against this Texas team. Game Five of the ALCS on Thursday is another early start, also beginning at 21.19 BST. 

As for the NLCS, the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals won a game apiece from the first two at the former’s Miller Park.  The Cardinals  – more specifically first baseman Albert Pujols – put a thumping on the Brewers in Game Two after dropping the series opener. 

The series now relocates to St. Louis and Game Three brings together two quality starting pitchers in Yovani Gallardo and Chris Carpenter.  First pitch is set for 01.05 a.m. in the early hours of Thursday, while Game Four starts at the same time in the early hours of Friday.

All of the above games are being shown live on ESPN America and are available live and on demand to ‘international’ MLB.TV subscribers at MLB.com.

Big turnover in Boston

The Red Sox revelations are extraordinary.  After parting company with Manager Terry Francona, it looks like General Manager Theo Epstein is on the verge of leaving the organization as well.  Epstein is reportedly close to becoming the Chicago Cubs’ new General Manager following the dismissal of Jim Hendry in the latter stages of the regular season. 

If he does make the move, it will be the second half of an incredible ending to what has been a successful era in Red Sox history.  Few, if any, would have predicted prior to the 2011 season that Francona and Epstein would be gone by the end of the year.  Everything looked like being in place for yet another World Series appearance. 

Of course, those expectations are in part a reason for the strength of the reaction to the team’s miserable September collapse, but it just goes to show how quickly a position of strength can suddenly crumble.  Francona agreed to a separation and quickly found his way to the FOX announcers’ booth, while the frustration at Fenway and the challenge of the Cubs appears to have tempted Epstein to have a crack at reversing another curse.

With the Chicago White Sox surprisingly recruiting former player Robin Ventura as their new manager and the Los Angeles Angels overhauling their Front Office and scouting department, there are plenty of changes taking place in the American League for teams that didn’t reach their goal of making it to the playoffs.

Championship Series schedule

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CovHlWEThe rain did its best to interupt Game One of the American League Championship Series (ALCS), but it was the Texas Rangers’ bullpen that took control after the starting pitchers departed and helped their team to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. 

There was a considerable debate in Spring Training about how best to use Neftali Feliz: whether he should remain in his closer role or go back to being a starting pitcher, as he was in the Minor Leagues.  

A quality starting pitcher is always more valuable to a team than a closer, not least because you can expect to get around three times the amount of innings from them over the course of a season. 

The Rangers feel that Feliz does have the pitching arsenal to make it as a frontline starter, but they had other starting pitching options this year and decided that using him as a closer made the most sense. 

That may change over the coming offseason. If they lose C.J. Wilson as a free agent, it might make more sense to replace him in the rotation with Feliz and then spend some of the money that would have gone towards a starting pitcher on one of the premium closers that will hit the market as free agents (principally Heath Bell, Jonathan Papelbon, Francisco Rodriguez and Ryan Madson).

That’s a decision for another day.  Right now, the Rangers can enjoy bringing Feliz into a 3-2 game in the ninth inning and watching him strike out the side, blowing a 101 MPH fastball past Austin Jackson in the process.

Many in the UK (including myself) will be catching up on Feliz’s flame-throwing fireworks this morning rather than having watched it live.  The game started in the early hours of Sunday morning and after 1 hour 50 minutes were taken up by the two rain delays, the game didn’t finish until just gone 6 a.m. UK time.

Looking at the current schedule for the coming week – up to and including the potential Game Five in each series – we will be able to enjoy three of the contests live at a more convenient time.  That starts with tonight’s NLCS opener between the Cardinals and Brewers and continues with Games Four and Five (if needed) of the ALCS on Wednesday and Thursday. 

The schedule is stated below with start times in BST and the later games (i.e. games that actually start in the early hours of the following day from our perspective) listed in italics.  Continue reading →

ALDS Game Three times two

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CovHlWEMonday is Game Three day in the American League postseason.

Both of the two AL Division Series are tied at 1-1 heading into the third game of each respective series.  Teams can, and have, come back from trailing 2-1 in a best-of-five series, but winning the third game undoubtedly shifts the odds firmly in favour of the victor.

The Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays have decamped to Florida, with Colby Lewis and David Price set to take the mound today.

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra will be broadcasting the game live from 22.00 BST, giving baseball fans, and maybe a few sports fans in the UK yet to take an interest in the sport, an exciting postseason game to enjoy live during the British evening.

The Rays will be glad to head back home to the scene of their recent stunning triumph over the Yankees that booked them a playoff place on the final day of the regular season. The Rangers will be slightly disappointed to have dropped one of the two games at their ballpark, but their victory in Game Two has kept this series finely balanced.

As for the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers, Game Three of their series finally offers us the tantalising prospect of a proper pitching match-up between two of the very best starting pitchers in the sport: CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander.

We got a glimpse of this contest in the initial staging of Game One before rain cut that short after less than two complete innings.  Continue reading →

Exciting early exchanges

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MlbHlSqThe excitement of the final day of the 2011 MLB regular season has carried over to the early stages of the postseason, despite a much needed day off in between to pause for breath and to catch up on some sleep.

We haven’t had a thrilling late comeback as yet, but they don’t happen quite as often as the last week would lead you to believe.  What we have had are some excellent individual performances, some good competitive games and a bit of drama thrown in for good measure.

Tigers and Yankees

Yankee Stadium provided the drama on Friday night as the anticipated pitching duel between CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander was sunk by rain in the Bronx. 

Doug Fister and Ivan Nova picked up from where those two left off yesterday and the Yankees prevailed 9-3. Robinson Cano rightfully took the headlines thanks to his Grand Slam and six RBI; however Nova’s solid ‘start’ – giving up two runs over 6.1 innings – should not be overlooked.

Verlander and Sabathia were seen as the crucial players in the series due to the question marks placed next to the names of the other starting pitchers.  With the two aces now slated to start Game Three, it could well be that the series is decided by the other starting pitchers and the Yankees have to be delighted with Nova’s performance.  Continue reading →

Wild Card races going down to the wire: Part Two

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MlbHlSqWednesday is the final scheduled day of the 2011 MLB regular season and it is set to be a thriller.

The excitement can be summed up simply by looking at the Wild Card standings after Tuesday’s games. 

In the American League, the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays both have 90-71 win-loss records. In the National League, the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals both have 89-72 records.

The teams could not be separated in their respective Wild Card race after 161 games.  We will find out in the early hours of Thursday UK time if they could be separated after 162. 

If not, we will have a single-game showdown on Thursday night to look forward to, although it would probably be best not to be too concerned about that scenario just yet. Recent events have taught us not to get ahead of ourselves. 

One team certain to not be thinking too far ahead are the Atlanta Braves.  They were never in their game against the Phillies on Tuesday, ultimately losing 7-1.  The one positive on the night came in the early stages of the Cardinals’ game against the Houston Astros.  The Astros took an early 5-0 lead and gave the Braves hope that their destiny would still be in their own hands on Wednesday.

Those hopes were still alive despite the Cardinals levelling the game with a five-run fourth inning, as the Astros took a 6-5 lead in the fifth inning.  That could have been a fatal blow for St. Louis, but they fought back again and won the game 13-6. 

On the face of it, that result would seem to have spun the NL Wild Card around 180 degrees.  Atlanta were in the driving seat, but not anymore. The Braves are on a four-game losing streak and are facing the team with the best record in MLB, while the Cardinals can take forward the confidence from a stunning come-from-behind victory into a final day game against the team with the worst record in MLB. 

In the American League, the Rays and Red Sox finished up where they had started prior to Tuesday’s games.  Continue reading →

Sunday’s early MLB games: Pressure on the Braves and Red Sox

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CovHlWEFriday’s results initially appeared to have caused an important shift in the Wild Card races.  The chasing teams slipped up, increasing the cushions enjoyed by the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves.

However, yesterday’s results set us back to where we started, albeit with the games now running out for the chasing pack.

That means the final Sunday of the 2011 regular season is set to be a thrilling evening of live baseball.  All but the second game of the Red Sox-Yankees double-header will be played in daylight in North America.

All times are in BST.

18.05. Minnesota at Cleveland (Hendriks – Carmona)
18.05. Baltimore at Detroit (Matusz – Penny)
18.05. Boston at NY Yankees (Wakefield – Burnett) *ESPN America
18.35. Atlanta at Washington (Minor – Detwiler)
18.35. Cincinnati at Pittsburgh (Willis – McDonald)
18.40. Toronto at Tampa Bay (Cecil – Davis)
19.05. Colorado at Houston (Millwood – Harrell)
19.10. Kansas City at Chicago White Sox (Mendoza – Floyd)
19.10. Florida at Milwaukee (Nolasco – Narveson)
19.10. Philadelphia at NY Mets (Halladay – Pelfrey)
19.15. Chicago Cubs at St. Louis (Wells – Jackson)
20.05. Seattle at Texas (Furbush – Holland)
20.35. Oakland at LA Angels (Harden – Pineiro)
21.05. LA Dodgers at San Diego (Kershaw – Luebke)
21.10. San Francisco at Arizona (Lincecum – Collmenter) *ESPN America

To say this is a significant day for the Red Sox and their fans is an understatement.  After a heavy loss to the Yankees yesterday, the team goes into a double-header today with the weight of the Red Sox nation on their shoulders. 

A pessimistic Red Sox fan would think today will be the day that the inconsistent A.J. Burnett finds his best stuff and that would be the stuff of nightmares for Boston.  Their own Mr Inconsistent John Lackey is scheduled to pitch the nightcap of this double-header and if they lose the opener, Red Sox fans will not be looking forward to it.

The Tampa Bay Rays need to do their best to take advantage of the Red Sox’s situation by winning their game against the Blue Jays, while the Angels are still mathematically in the AL Wild Card race as well.

In the National League, the Atlanta Braves are playing the Red Sox’s role. The dreaded word ‘choke’ is being used more and more as Atlanta’s previously strong grip on the Wild Card has loosened to them holding on with their fingernails.

The Braves lost 4-1 against the Washington Nationals yesterday, while the St. Louis Cardinals earned a a stunning walk-off win (on a wild pitch) against the Chicago Cubs to leave them just two games behind Atlanta.  A loss for the Braves and a win for the Cards will bring that gap down to one.

The only slight disappointment of the day is that Nat Coombs and Josh Chetwynd will not be presenting any action on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra. The International Twenty20 between England and the West Indies takes precedence in the early evening, although North American sports fans can enjoy coverage of the NFL game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears from approximately 21.30.

Sunday’s early MLB games: Aces and playoff contenders

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CovHlWESunday should provide a great evening of baseball, with several important games involving playoff contenders and an array of aces taking to the mound.

I stated yesterday that the Atlanta Braves needed Tim Hudson to lead from the front with a big performance and he undoubtedly delivered.  Atlanta’s ace got the better of a pitching duel with the Mets’ R.A. Dickey, striking out ten over eight scoreless innings as the Braves won 1-0.  With the St. Louis Cardinals losing to the Phillies (a result that crowned the Phillies as NL East champions), the Braves’ Wild Card lead extended to 4.5 games.

As for the AL Wild Card race, the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Red Sox yesterday to reduce Boston’s lead to three games.  Tim Wakefield secured a memorable personal milestone by finally getting his 200th career win last time out, but in the grand scheme of things his start today is much more important.  David Price is having a good year and has matched up well against Boston, so the Rays will go into the game confident that they can close the Wild Card gap down to two games.

All times are in BST.

18.07. NY Yankees at Toronto (Garcia – Morrow) *BBC 5 Live Sports Extra
18.10. Milwaukee at Cincinnati (Greinke – Willis)
18.35. LA Angels at Baltimore (Weaver – Simon)
18.35. Tampa Bay at Boston (Price – Wakefield)
18.35. NY Mets at Atlanta (Gee – Beachy)
18.35. Florida at Washington (Hand – Wang)
19.10. Chicago White Sox at Kansas City (Danks – Chen)
19.10. Cleveland at Minnesota (Masterson – Pavano)
19.20. Houston at Chicago Cubs (Myers – Dempster)
20.10. San Francisco at Colorado (Cain – Rogers)
21.05. Detroit at Oakland (Verlander – Moscoso)
21.05. Arizona at San Diego (Saunders – Harang)
21.10. Texas at Seattle (Harrison – Hernandez) *ESPN America
21.10. Pittsburgh at LA Dodgers (Lincoln – Billingsley)  Continue reading →

MLB this weekend: Strasburg Sunday

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CovHlWEAfter the British sporting weekend began with winning starts – if unconvincing displays – by England and Scotland in the Rugby World Cup, North America provides plenty of exciting sports action to follow over the rest of the next two days.

The 2011 NFL season got underway on time on Thursday night after an offseason in which such a scenario didn’t always appear likely.  Grid Iron really gets going with a raft of games on Sunday, while the baseball regular season is coming towards a climax, albeit with most of the playoff races seemingly all-but decided already.

Here are the MLB games starting before midnight UK time this weekend.

Saturday 10 September

18.07. Baltimore at Toronto (van den Hurk – Alvarez)
18.10. Chicago Cubs at NY Mets (Wells – Capuano)
21.10. Cleveland at Chicago White Sox (Carmona – Humber)
21.10. Minnesota at Detroit (Swarzak – Scherzer)
21.10. Oakland at Texas (Cahill – Ogando)
21.10. Cincinnati at Colorado (Arroyo – White)

The Netherlands’ Rick van den Hurk has spent most of the year in Triple-A pitching for the Orioles’ Norfolk Tides. After two recent relief appearances back in the Big Leagues, he’ll make his first MLB start of the season in Toronto.

Another starting assignment worth watching comes in Colorado where Alex White takes to the mound at Coors Field.  He was one of the key pieces that the Rockies received when they traded Ubaldo Jimenez to the Cleveland Indians at the end of July.  White has given up fourteen earned runs in his three starts so far with his new team; however he was credited with his first Rockies win last time out so has that to build on against the Reds on Saturday.  Continue reading →

MLB this weekend: Boston on the BBC

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CovHlWEThere are plenty of MLB games to enjoy this weekend during the British evening.  All times are in BST.

Saturday 3 September 
 
18.05. Toronto at NY Yankees (Romero – Colon)
18.05. Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs (Ohlendorf – Coleman)
21.05. Seattle at Oakland (Pineda – McCarthy)
21.05. Texas at Boston (Lewis – Bedard)
21.10. Chicago White Sox at Detroit (Floyd – Penny)
21.10. Cincinnati at St. Louis (Bailey – Garcia)
23.10. Baltimore at Tampa Bay (Simon – Davis)

The Yankees moved to the top of the AL East with their victory over the Blue Jays on Friday.  Whether they are overly concerned about winning the division or not, the Yankees are definitely concerned about some of their pitchers being able to find some good form over the next few weeks. Bartolo Colon put in a decent showing last time out and New York needs him to do that again today.

While the Yankees were winning, the Red Sox were held to just two hits by the Rangers in a 10-0 defeat. Erik Bedard is searching for his first win in a Red Sox uniform in the second game of the series today.

Elsewhere, the White Sox will be glad to not be facing Justin Verlander today and Jaime Garcia comes back into the Cardinals’ rotation against the Reds.

From a TV point of view, it’s worth noting that ESPN America will now be concentrating on College Football on Saturdays, so we won’t have our usual run of 2 or 3 MLB games back-to-back any more.

Sunday 4 September

18.05. Toronto at NY Yankees (Cecil – Sabathia)
18.10. Philadelphia at Florida (Halladay – Sanchez) *ESPN America
18.35. Texas at Boston (Harrison – Lackey) *BBC 5 Live Sports Extra
18.35. LA Dodgers at Atlanta (Kershaw – Delgado)
18.35. NY Mets at Washington (Pelfrey – Hernandez)
18.40. Baltimore at Tampa Bay (Guthrie – Hellickson)
19.05. Milwaukee at Houston (Marcum – Rodriguez)
19.10. Cleveland at Kansas City (Gomez – Francis)
19.15. Cincinnati at St. Louis (Arroyo – Jackson)
19.20. Pittsburgh at Chicago Cubs (Morton – Wells)
20.35. Minnesota at LA Angels (Slowey – Williams)
21.05. Seattle at Oakland (Beavan – Cahill)
21.05. Colorado at San Diego (Cook – Latos)
21.05. Arizona at San Francisco (Hudson – Vogelsong)

As per normal, all but the ESPN Sunday Night game (White Sox v Tigers) are being played in daylight on Sunday.

Nat Coombs and Josh Chetwynd are scheduled to provide coverage of the Rangers-Red Sox game from Fenway Park on BBC radio.  Matt Harrison was skipped in his previous rotation slot, so he’s well rested coming into this game. John Lackey has struggled to find any sort of consistency this season, but he pitched well against the Orioles last time out.

As for the ESPN America game, that should be a Roy Halladay start against the Marlins. There are other outstanding starters on show as well, including CC Sabathia (looking for his 19th win of the season), Clayton Kershaw (facing one of the Braves’ many talented young pitchers in Randall Delgado), Jeremy Hellickson (a leading contender for AL Rookie of the Year honours) and Daniel Hudson (one of the main reasons for the D-Backs’ impressive season so far).

All of these games are available to watch live via the MLB.TV subscription at MLB.com.  The games being shown on ESPN America are highlighted above.  You can listen to the 5 Live Sports Extra game via Digital Radio, Digital TV or online on the BBC website (UK residents only). The full schedule for this weekend’s games can be found on MLB.com.