J. D. Downs Angels; J. P. Stops White Sox

Players of the Day from Friday, October 3, 2008 American League Tampa Bay 6 Chicago White Sox 2 The Tampa Bay Rays took a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series with the White Sox, scoring a 6-2 win Friday night in Tampa. Quality pitching has been a key to the Rays' success all season, proved by the 2 innings of stellar work turned in by middle reliever J. P. Howell. Howell came on in the top of the 7th inning, with the Rays up 3-2. Starter Scott Kazmir had lasted just 5 1/3, and Grant Balfour, who came on with one out in the 6th, ran into trouble, allowing back-to-back singles to Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko leading off the 7th. With the potential lead runs on base, Powell calmly put down the next three batters in order and worked a scoreless 8th as well, allowing only a harmless 2-out single to Orlando Cabrera while striking out the side. After the Rays put up three more runs in the bottom of the frame, Howell's night was complete. Chad Bradford came on to finish off the Sox in the ninth. Howell was 6-1 during the regular season, appearing in 64 games. Over 89 innings, Howell compiled a 2.22 ERA with a 1.13 WHIP and 92 Ks. The Rays and Sox get a day off prior to resumption of their series in Chicago on Sunday. Matt Garza goes for the Rays, facing Chicago's John Danks. Boston 7 LA Angels 5 J. D. Drew snapped a 5-all tie with a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th inning to give the Red Sox a 7-5 win over the Angels and a 2-0 lead in the playoff series. It was the 11th straight win for the Red Sox over the Angels in the post-season. Drew, who managed to end the game on a positive note for the Red Sox, got things started with an RBI double in the first inning and added a single for a 3-for-5 night. The Red Sox are within one win of advancing to the AL Championship Series. Game three is Sunday at Fenway. Boston ace Josh Beckett faces Joe Saunders in a do-or-die game for the Angels. Notes: The National League takes center stage on Saturday as both Philadelphia and the LA Dodgers look to advance. Both hold 2-0 leads in their series, over a pair of NL Central squads, the Brewers and Cubs, respectively.

Longoria Launches Rays; Dodgers, Phillies Establish 2-0 Leads

Players of the Day from Thursday, October 2, 2008 American League Tampa Bay 6 Chicago White Sox 4 Fittingly, rookie Evan Longoria led the effort in the Rays' first ever playoff game, belting a pair of homers in Tampa Bay's 6-4 opening win over the Chicago White Sox. Longoria, the favorite to win AL Rookie of the Year honors, hit solo homers in the second and third inning, and also singled in another run in the 5th inning. White Sox pitchers could not keep him off the bases. In addition to his 3-for-3 effort, Longoria also walked and stole a base. The best-of-five series continues at Tropicana Field on Friday at 6:07 pm. Mark Buehrle takes the mound for the Sox to face the Rays' Scott Kazmir Notes: The Angels and Red Sox resume their series on Friday evening in Anaheim. With Boston leading 1-0, it will be up to Ervin Santana to outduel Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka. Game time is 9:07 pm ET. National League Phillies 5 Brewers 2 The Brewers sent their stopper, C.C. Sabathia, to the hill Thursday, but that didn't faze Shane Victorino, who was a one-man wrecking crew for the Phillies. Victorino went 3-for-4 with a walk, two doubles, a grand slam home run, two stolen bases and four RBI. His stats would have included more than his one run scored if the hitters behind him - Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell - hadn't gone a collective 0-for-10. That the 3, 4, and 5 hitters in Philly's lineup didn't hit wasn't an issue as the Phillies chased Sabathia off the mound with two outs in the 4th inning. Working on three days rest, the Brewer starter simply seemed out of gas and the Phillies took advantage. With their 5-2 win over the Brewers, Philly holds a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series with game three set for late Saturday afternoon in Milwaukee (6:07 pm ET). Jamie Moyer gets the start for Philadelphia, facing the Brewers' Dave Bush. LA Dodgers 10 Chicago Cubs 3 Just like the Phillies, the Dodgers took a 2-0 series lead over the Cubs as Russell Martin delivered a key bases-clearing double in the second inning, giving the Dodgers an early 5-0 lead en route to a 10-3 thrashing of the worried Cubs. Manny Ramirez homered for the second straight game with a solo shot in the 5th, also adding an 8th inning RBI single. Leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal singed three times in 6 at-bats, scored twice and drove in a pair. It was the second straight easy win for Joe Torre's Dodgers as the series now shifts to LA. Game three is Saturday night (10:07 pm ET). The Cubs will try to stay alive by sending Rich Harden to the mound to face rookie Hiroki Kiroda. Harden was acquired mid-season in a trade with Oakland. Kiroda (9-10) was brilliant at times. He tossed a 4-hit shutout against the Cubs on June 6 and twirled a 1-hit shutout over Atlanta on July 7.

Red Sox Ground Angels; Loney Slams Cubs; Hamels a Hero in Philly

Players of the Day from Wednesday, October 1, 2008 American League Boston 4 LA Angels 1 Jason Bay crunched a two-run homer in support of Jon Lester's strong 7 inning performance as the Red Sox won the opener of their playoff series with the Angels, 4-1. Bay's homer lifted the Red Sox from a 1-0 deficit and the Red Sox bullpen kept the Angels off the board for the remainder of the proceedings. Lester, who allowed an unearned run in the second inning, gave up six hits - all singles - and a walk while fanning seven. Boston's win was the 10th straight over the Angels in the playoffs and the 8th straight playoff loss for LA overall. The Angels dominated Boston during the regular season, winning 8 of 9 games. Notes: The series resumes Friday night in Anaheim with Daisuke Matsuzaka on the mound for Boston, facing the Angels' Ervin Santana. National League Philadelphia 3 Milwaukee 1 Cole Hamels was at the top of his game, striking out nine batter and shutting out the Brewers over 8 innings on two hits to lead the Phillies to a 3-1 win over Milwaukee in the opener of their best-of-five playoff series. Brad Lidge, who was named NL comeback player of the year on Monday, came on for the ninth, getting the final three outs on strikeouts, but not before allowing a walk, two hits and the Brewers' only run. Hamels was a strikeout machine, getting Mike Cameron swinging to start the game and Ryan Braun swinging to end the first inning. He fanned Jason Kendall and slugger Prince Fielder twice each. For good measure, Lidge also struck out Fielder with Ryan Braun on 2nd and first base open in the ninth. The Phillies scored all of their runs in the 3rd inning on a Chase Utley 2-run double and a bases loaded walk to Shane Victorino. Though all of the runs were deemed unearned because of second baseman Ricky Weeks' one-out error, starter Brewers' starter Yovani Gallardo struggled through 4 innings, allowing 3 hits while walking 5. The Brewers and Phillies take the field again Thursday night (6:07 pm ET). C.C. Sabathia will start for Milwaukee. Philly sends Brett Myers to the mound. Sabathia has been a stud for the Brewers since coming over in a mid-season trade from Cleveland. He will be pitching on three days rest after a complete game win which clinched the wild card for the Brewers on Sunday. LA Dodgers 7 Chicago Cubs 2 The cloud hanging over the Chicago Cubs for the last 100 years just won't go away. Nursing a 2-0 lead into the fifth inning, starter Ryan Dempster managed to load the bases on walks and with two outs let James Loney take him - and the hopes of thousands of Cubs fans in attendance - out of the park with a grand slam that broke the game open. Loney's blast was just the start for the Dodgers. Manny Ramirez and Russell Martin also homered in the 7th and 9th innings. Casey Blake singled in another run in the 8th. The Cubs had no answers in the Dodgers' 7-2 romp at Wrigley. While the Dodgers had only 8 hits, 5 of them went for extra bases, three of them out of the park. Chicago collected 9 hits, but only two - a double by Aramis Ramirez and Mark DeRosa's second-inning two-run homer - were anything beyond singles. The Cubs can make amends Thursday night (9:07 pm ET) with Carlos Zambrano on the mound to face the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley. After that, it's off to LA for a pair of weekend games and back to Chicago on Tuesday, if necessary. It's been 100 years since the Cubs last won a World Series. On such an auspicious anniversary, they're still a long way from celebrating.

Danks, Thome Send White Sox into Post-Season; NL AL Series Previews

Players of the Day from Tuesday, September 30, 2008 American League John Danks shut out the Twins on 2 hits over 8 innings and Jim Thome launched a 7th inning solo shot to center field in the 1-0 White Sox win over Minnesota which captured the AL Central division, sending Chicago into the playoffs. The single-game playoff was played at US Cellular Field in Chicago after the White Sox won a coin flip to determine the site and beat the Tigers in a make-up game to tie the Twins for the division lead at the conclusion of the regular season. Twins' starter Nick Blackburn worked into the seventh, shutting out the White Sox until Thome delivered with one out in the bottom of the 7th. Danks worked through the 8th before giving way to closer Bobby Jenks, who retired the Twins in order in the 9th. Notes: The White Sox head south to Tampa Bay to face the Rays in a best-of-five series to see who advances to the AL Championship series. Game one is Thursday, Oct. 2. Chicago sends Javier Vazquez (12-16, 4.67) to the hill against the Rays' James Shields (14-8, 3.56). Shields is 0-1 lifetime against the Sox, but he allowed just one run on seven hits over 6 innings in his last start vs. Chicago. Vazquez is 4-5 vs. Tampa Bay. He took a loss in his last start against the Rays, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits over 7 innings in a 5-3 home loss August 23. Vazquez has not been sharp down the stretch, losing 6 of his last eight starts. He has not even completed 5 innings in any of his last three outings. In the other divisional series, the LA Angels host the Boston Red Sox Wednesday night at 10:07 pm ET. John Lackey goes to the mound for the Angels to face Boston's Jon Lester. National League Milwaukee Brewers vs. Philadelphia Phillies The Phillies host the Brewers in the opener of their best-of-five series at 3:07 pm ET. Staff ace, Cole Hamels goes for Philly, while the Brewers - due to having used up their rotation in the hotly-contested wild card race - are forced to send up Yovani Galardo, who has started just once since May 1. The Brewers plan to start C.C. Sabathia in game 2 on three days rest. Los Angeles Dodgers at Chicago Cubs Ryan Dempster takes the mound for the Cubs as they open play hosting the Dodgers in the other divisional series, which has a scheduled start of 6:07 pm ET. LA sends Derek Lowe up the hill with a 2-1 lifetime mark against the Cubs. It's widely considered an uphill battle for the Dodgers, who were just 36-45 on the road this season. The Central division winning Cubs were 55-26 at Wrigley Field this season.