Three 3-1 victories plus a 3-0 sweep made the division series stage of this year’s postseason a slight anti-climax.\u00c2\u00a0 On paper, the League Championship series have the potential to make up for that with a pair of six or seven game thrillers.\u00c2\u00a0 Will we be so lucky?\u00c2\u00a0 Casting such a prediction will only guarantee a couple of sweeps, so instead we should just look forward to some great games of baseball and see where that takes us.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n
The Dodgers and the Phillies get things started tonight (01.22 tomorrow morning in the U.K.) with game one of the NLCS.\u00c2\u00a0 The Phillies made home field advantage count in their division series against the Brewers and they will be plotting another opening sweep to firmly put the pressure on the Dodgers by the time the two teams head to LA for game three.\u00c2\u00a0 Although Citizens Bank Park is unique due to its bandbox dimensions, the main reason the Phillies will be confident is not so much the comforts of being at home, but due to the man they will sending out to the mound.\u00c2\u00a0 Cole Hamels was excellent in his start against the Brewers, his change-up being virtually un-hittable.\u00c2\u00a0 Any team would struggle to string much offense together when Hamels is in that sort of form and a repeat performance will probably see the Phillies starting the series with a win.<\/p>\n
Game two follows on Friday and it is the only game of the NLCS that is scheduled to be played during the day time in the States.\u00c2\u00a0 First pitch is set for 21.35 BST, giving British fans an opportunity to start their weekend off in the best possible way: watching a pulsating contest between two evenly matched teams in the white hot heat of the postseason.\u00c2\u00a0 Chad Billingsley should face Brett Myers in this game and it’s a match-up that could work in the Dodgers’ favour.\u00c2\u00a0 If Derek Lowe can help them beat Hamels in game one, they will then be sending their best pitcher (judging on his performances this season) to the mound to drive home the advantage in game two.\u00c2\u00a0 Alternatively, if Hamels gets the better of the Dodgers in the opener, they will at least be able to counter by sending their top pitcher out to try and earn a split.<\/p>\n
It looks like the Phillies will go with Hamels, Myers, Moyer and Blanton for their starting rotation, while the Dodgers’ situation is a little less clear-cut when it comes to the fourth spot.\u00c2\u00a0 It will be interesting to see whether Torre goes with the immense experience of Greg Maddux or the potential of Clayton Kershaw and also if their lack of recent time on the diamond (just the one inning from Maddux in the NLDS, with Kershaw not figuring at all) will have a negative effect?\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
As for the offense, the Dodgers need Manny to keep on hitting like he’s got a point to prove and for the rest of the lineup to back him up.\u00c2\u00a0 However, if Ryan Howard and Chase Utley both go on the sort of hot streaks that we all know they are capable of, the Phillies could quickly blast the Dodgers out of the series.<\/p>\n
The Red Sox-Rays series gets under way in Tampa Bay on Friday night in the States (01.37 on Saturday morning here) with game two on the following day (01.07 Sunday morning for us).\u00c2\u00a0 Game three is a day game from Fenway, which means a Monday night treat for British fans (first pitch is 21.37 BST) and, if necessary, game six of the ALCS will start at the same time on Saturday 18th.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who is the favourite going into this one?\u00c2\u00a0 For some people that will be obvious: the mighty Red Sox are the reigning champs and the Rays are bound to come unstuck sooner or later due to their lack of postseason experience.\u00c2\u00a0 The Red Sox have the big stars, the high profile, the large fan base and a track record of success, all of\u00c2\u00a0which the Rays lack, relatively speaking.\u00c2\u00a0 Tampa Bay will be more than happy to take on the roll of the underdog and to prove those people wrong.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
The regular season provides arguments for both sides of the debate.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0The Rays\u00c2\u00a0did beat Boston to the AL East pennant and they edged the regular season series by ten games to eight, but they were actually outscored during those eighteen games (67-87).\u00c2\u00a0 Looking for omens is perhaps a waste of effort though, it’s clear that these are two closely-matched teams with lots of strengths and a few weaknesses thrown in.<\/p>\n
While I’m not convinced that a lack of postseason experience is going to hinder the Rays on the field, it will<\/em> become a big\u00c2\u00a0talking point\u00c2\u00a0if they fall behind in the series and so it could have an impact in that regard.\u00c2\u00a0 The Red Sox have the name recognition to make them favourites, but they are not without some concerns.\u00c2\u00a0 Lowell is definitely out for the Championship series, J.D. Drew is still being bothered by his back, David Ortiz isn’t in typical\u00c2\u00a0Big Papi\u00c2\u00a0form\u00c2\u00a0and Josh Beckett was rusty to say the least in his ALDS start.\u00c2\u00a0 They have so many strong competitors elsewhere on the roster that they may well be able to overcome these hurdles, but they\u00c2\u00a0provide another reminder that this Red Sox team can be beat.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re a very good side, but they’re not invincible and the Rays have an AL East flag to prove it.<\/p>\n Both series are too close to call and that should make for a\u00c2\u00a0fascinating group of games.\u00c2\u00a0 While the media outlets will be crying out for a Dodgers-Red Sox Fall Classic, a Phillies-Rays World Series is just as possible and would be just as exciting, albeit for different reasons.\u00c2\u00a0 In one sense the League Championship series are just a stepping stone to the big event, but that doesn’t make them any less important.\u00c2\u00a0 Like an FA Cup semi-final, there’s a feeling that now you’ve reached this stage, you want to make sure you at least get to play in the final.\u00c2\u00a0 Nobody wants to be on a team that loses in the League Championship round.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n Two teams will be in that position within the next eleven days.\u00c2\u00a0 It will be an exciting but nervous time for supporters of the four teams involved.\u00c2\u00a0 For the rest of us, we can enjoy the happiness and the heartache as it unfolds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Three 3-1 victories plus a 3-0 sweep made the division series stage of this year’s postseason a slight anti-climax.\u00c2\u00a0 On paper, the League Championship series have the potential to make up for that with a pair of six or seven game thrillers.\u00c2\u00a0 Will we be so lucky?\u00c2\u00a0 Casting such a prediction will only guarantee a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[553],"class_list":["post-838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlb-2","tag-mlb-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=838"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7320,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions\/7320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baseballgb.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}