Charles Haddad
Journal Staff
The 2010 MLB playoffs began last week, and in the American League the 2009 World Series champion New York Yankees matched up with the AL Central Champion Minnesota Twins. The Yankees have a track record of eliminating the Twins from postseason play, and this year was no different. The most the Twins have ever done against the Yanks has been a Game 1 win, but this year they were swept away by the Bronx Bombers. New York’s high powered offence proved once again to be too much for the Twins to overcome and made quick work of them in three games.
The other American League series pits The AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays against the Texas Rangers. Starting pitcher Cliff Lee continued his stellar post-season career with an impressive seven-inning effort in Game 1. The Rangers’ high-powered offense of Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz has certainly enabled them to push the series to five games, but the Rays have found some late-inning magic to force a decisive Game 5. If the Rays can get a solid performance from young lefty David Price, they stand a good chance of making it to the championship series to face the vaunted Yankees.
In the National League the San Francisco Giants used their dominating pitching staff to oust Bobby Cox and the Atlanta Braves. Led by Tim Lincicum and his 3.34 ERA and 231 regular-season strikeouts, the Giants shoved away the pesky Braves in four games. Former Red Sox pitcher Derek Lowe pitched ably for the Braves in Games 1 and 4, but could not hold off the Giants and force a deciding Game 5. The Braves were haunted by injuries in the latter half of the season, and with a depleted bunch they could not handle the Giants’ powerful starting pitching.
In the other NL series the Philadelphia Phillies swept away the surprising Cincinnati Reds. The team’s superior pitching was too much for the young Reds to handle. The threesome of Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hammels handled the Reds easily, with Halladay throwing only the second no-hitter in postseason history in Game 1. The Giants and Phillies matchup in the National League Championship series will be interesting, seeing as both teams possess some of the best pitchers the game has to offer. Roy Halladay vs. Tim Lincicum in Game 1 will be a matchup any baseball fan will love.
The rest of the postseason should be very interesting. Look for the defining moments in games that will be engraved in history, and remind us why postseason baseball is unlike any other. Whether it be a masterful pitching performance, a clutch home run or a stolen base to put a team over the edge, every moment is critical.
Ultimately, no matter what happens the rest of the way, the 2010 playoffs are shaping up to be an interesting show to watch .
