nmigliore Posted September 30, 2013 Share Posted September 30, 2013 (edited) Figured I'd make this now with the Game 163/Tiebreaker Game going on tomorrow night. I don't really like making predictions every year since the playoffs can be so random but it does add to the fun of actually creating the thread, so, without further adieu: Tiebreaker Game Rays over Rangers: I'll take David Price over Martin Perez in a lose-or-go-home game. AL Wild Card Game Indians over Rays: best young pitcher nobody has heard of yet: Danny Salazar. NL Wild Card Game Pirates over Reds: First playoff game in Pittsburgh since 1992, back when Barry Bonds looked liked this. Yeah, it's been awhile; you think the fans will be fired up? Also, Liriano vs lefties this season: .130/.175/.146. The Reds' top 3 hitters are left-handed. ALDS Red Sox over Indians: While all my other preseason predicitions pretty much sucked, I did at least call the Indians my AL sleeper. I didn't project them to make the playoffs, but I thought a wild card push was very possible with bounceback seasons from Justin Masterson (3.48 ERA, 3.35 FIP as Cleveland's rotation anchor), Ubaldo Jimenez (1.86 ERA, 2.39 FIP in the 2nd half), and Scott Kazmir (3.51 FIP). As evidence to those numbers in paranthesis, that all happened, and then some. Kudos to Terry Francona and his Indians for a fun season in Cleveland... but I think their magical run ends here, against a pretty damn good team that is simply better than them across the board. ALDS Tigers over A's: This was a fun series last October, so let's do it again. I'll be pulling for the A's but damn, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Anibal Sanchez in a short series is tough top, and three of the five possible games could take place in a pitcher's park. NLDS Pirates over Cardinals: Tough one. I would say the Cards are hurt with Allen Craig looking doubtful for this series but that would be disingenuous: Matt Adams has equaled him in wRC+ this season, so they probably aren't losing much there. Both teams are pretty even position player wise, each having their stars (Molina, McCutchen) and underrated heroes (Carpenter, Marte, Martin). AJ Burnett is no Adam Wainwright, but he's had a fantastic year, and I like Pittsburgh's remaining rotation more. Gerrit Cole is really damn good and people will find that out during this series. I will say I'm probably a tad biased towards Pittsburgh because of the underdog story here. NLDS Dodgers over Braves: The Dodgers went 69-38 since Yasiel Puig debuted, including a 42-8 stretch from late-June to mid-August. Yeah, you read that right, they had a stretch where they won 42 of 50 games. Remarkably, Hanley Ramirez has been even more of an amazing story than Puig. They have the best pitcher on the planet (Kershaw) and the Braves might see him twice. ALCS Tigers over Red Sox: Boston can hit. Want evidence? Their team 115 wRC+ led MLB. The Tigers can pitch. Want evidence? This is where I introduce the fact that the Tigers' 4th starter is Doug Fister, who is quietly better than the #1's on most teams. Detroit can really hit too (114 wRC+, 2nd in MLB) and Boston can boast a deep playoff rotation as well. Bullpens carry more significance now, and Boston has the best weapon of anyone there (Koji Uehara). This is a real toss-up for me, but I'm going with the rotation I trust a little bit more. NLCS Dodgers over Pirates: Matt Kemp was shutdown for the playoffs. That sounds bad until you realize the Dodgers have been Kemp-less for more than half of their games this season and when he has played, he hasn't been any good. The biggest question mark is will Kemp's typical replacement, Andre Ethier, be healthy enough to play in this series. After injuring his ankle last Tuesday, he was shut down for the remainder of the season and may be left off the NLDS roster. Score a small victory for Pittsburgh, if they make this far, and Ethier is merely a pinch hitter, but I have to take the team who has beat the living hell out of teams since June. World Series Tigers over Dodgers: Dodgers boast the best pitcher in the game but Max Scherzer isn't terribly far behind himself. Neither is Anibal Sanchez. Neither is Justin Verlander. Neither is Doug Fister. Oh, and again, those last four are on the Tigers. I like Greinke and Ryu, but nobody is touching Detroit's rotation. Detroit's position player crop stacks up against the Dodgers' as well, and it might be better. I say the Tigers finally get over the hump and win the World Series. ---- The action all begins tomorrow night at 8pm ET, Rays (David Price) @ Rangers (Martin Perez) on TBS. The entire playoff schedule can be found here. I'll be pulling for the Bucs. Enjoy the postseason! Edited September 30, 2013 by nmigliore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 (edited) Solid game so far but umps just blew a big call. Delmon Young hit a liner to CF that was clearly trapped by Martin. Umps ruled it a catch. Cost the Rays at least one run and what could have been an even bigger inning. Replay can't come soon enough. Edited October 1, 2013 by nmigliore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 (edited) 2 homers from Martin, 1 from Byrd, and Liriano with 7 great innings. Bucs 6 outs away from a date with the Cardinals! Edit: Pirates win. What an atmosphere in Pittsburgh. So happy for the loyal Bucs fans who've dealt with so much over the last 20 years. They deserve this. Edited October 2, 2013 by nmigliore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilsrule33 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 2 homers from Martin, 1 from Byrd, and Liriano with 7 great innings. Bucs 6 outs away from a date with the Cardinals! Edit: Pirates win. What an atmosphere in Pittsburgh. So happy for the loyal Bucs fans who've dealt with so much over the last 20 years. They deserve this. Loyal or not loyal, if you liked Pitt at any time in the last 20 years, you deserve this. Hard to be loyal to a team that bad for that long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Couldn't be happier for Marlon Byrd. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gc4QTqslN4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'7' Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Very happy for Byrd Have to say though I'm not a huge fan of these 1 game playoff tiebreakers. Baseball is a series sport, and 1 game tiebreakers should only exist out of necessity. I say have the two wild cards play a best 2 of 3 and then go right into the next playoff series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Very happy for Byrd Have to say though I'm not a huge fan of these 1 game playoff tiebreakers. Baseball is a series sport, and 1 game tiebreakers should only exist out of necessity. I say have the two wild cards play a best 2 of 3 and then go right into the next playoff series. Then I think it starts to get a bit ridiculous. Game 7 of the WS is already slated for Halloween I believe. The problem is, as we've seen, is that pitchers can start getting rusty if they're sitting around too long...that's a lot of arms getting extra rest before the Divisional Series get underway. This being said, you could cut back the regular season from 162 games to 154 or something like that, but we know that ain't ever happening. I like that the WC game is such a high-stakes entity...really puts a much-needed premium on winning your division. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 (edited) 7: I've said the same in the past about the Wild Card Game, but it does at least add some extra excitement/drama to the playoffs (good for MLB) and makes winning your division a lot more meaningful. Making the Wild Card series longer would also create a mess with scheduling. I still don't think it's all that fair, but I can understand the arguments for it. re: Byrd - absolutely, he's a reason why I'm pulling for Pittsburgh. The underdog story helps a lot too. I'd love to see an A's/Pirates World Series. Edited October 2, 2013 by nmigliore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'7' Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 (edited) I do like the impact it has on the division, and I'm sure the MLB loves having a few more markets involved than there were in the past Still as a Mets fan I'm a little bit bitter. We could've used that 2nd wild card in 07-08 and we could've used the Wild Card in general 1984-1990 I'm kind of pulling for Boston in the AL. Some salt in the wounds of Yankee fans. Plus it's a likable team, and I generally love watching games from that old timey ballpark Edited October 2, 2013 by '7' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilsrule33 Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 Not a fan of the 1-game playoff either. Drama yes, but when it is the only one in the playoffs, it's a bit silly. Is Cincy supposed to think of it as a successful season since they made the playoffs? And is Texas thinking what a disappointment that they missed the playoffs? If I'm a Reds or Pirates fan, I don't feel like there was a playoff if you lose the 1-game WC playoff. If Pitt loses yesterday, does a fan really feel that the drought is over? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'7' Posted October 2, 2013 Share Posted October 2, 2013 I think there is a difference between the "playoffs" and "postseason" Doesn't the MLB market the Wild Card games as just postseason (which they are) and the official playoffs the actual series games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted October 2, 2013 Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 (edited) No, they have separate logos and whatnot for the Tiebreaker and Wild Card games (see MLB.com's homepage right now), as well as one main logo for the postseason (see the logo at the top of this thread). Even their MLB.tv playoff version is called "Postseason.tv" and the entire playoff scheduled is titled "2013 Postseason." Edited October 2, 2013 by nmigliore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 Pretty awesome pitchers' duel in Oakland right now between Sonny Gray and Justin Verlander. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 Walkoff single for Vogt! A's win 1-0! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefiestygoat Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 A's just took a 2-1 series lead over the Tigers. Awesome to see the benches clear in the bottom of the 9th! Martinez fouled off a pitch and Balfour yelled towards him as he was getting a new ball. Apparently Martinez was staring at Balfour and Balfour took exception and essentially told him to come at him. Love seeing the raw emotion. NSFW: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 Wow, that was weird...0-60 in about 2 seconds.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefiestygoat Posted October 7, 2013 Share Posted October 7, 2013 St. Louis defeated Pittsburgh 2-1 to force a game 5. Wacha took a no-hitter into the 8th before giving up a solo shot to Alvarez. Boston and LA have a chance to move on with victories tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 Haha that was awesome. I was only able to watch part of that game, glad to see Oakland pull it out. Sucks that Pittsburgh couldn't close out the series but Game 5 should be excellent. Wacha has been superb since coming up earlier in the year. Hoping LA finishes off the Braves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) Longoria strikes again! Rays were down 3-0 with a win probability of 17% before that game-tying homer. Edited October 8, 2013 by nmigliore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) Jose Lobaton homered off Uehara in a tie game to win it for the Rays and force a Game 4. Uribe hits a HUGE 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to put LA on top. Dodgers are 3 outs away from going to the NLCS! Some exciting finishes tonight. I love postseason baseball. Edited October 8, 2013 by nmigliore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefiestygoat Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Only saw bits and pieces of today's games but an exciting day for sure. Tigers and Rays try even up their respective series tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Brown Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Woohoo Tampa! The sooner the Red Sox are gone, the better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Woohoo Tampa! The sooner the Red Sox are gone, the better! .... lol, suck it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devils Dose Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Probably gonna have to schedule some repairs to a wall inside the Oakland Coliseum after that inning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmigliore Posted October 9, 2013 Author Share Posted October 9, 2013 Red Sox win, advance to ALCS. Tigers came back from being down 3-0 and 4-3 to force a Game 5 Thursday night in Oakland. Pittsburgh (Gerrit Cole) and St. Louis (Wainwright) will face off tomorrow night to determine who faces Dodgers in the NLCS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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