Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson headline group of major leaugers headed to China

Here is a link from the Daily News and blogging bombers on a November exhibition series in China.  Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano are headlining the group of major leaguers taking part in this tournament against Chinese Taipai.  Miguel Cabrera will also take part if he is up to it after his postseason is over, he will decide once his season is over. 
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St. Louis takes Game Five and is one win away from the World Series

The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers by the score of 7-1 on Friday night. The win put the Cardinals one win away from the World Series as the best of seven series shifts back to Milwaukee for Game Six and then Seven if necessary. The Cardinals will have a chance to close out the series on Sunday afternoon or Sunday night depending on what happens with the ALCS on Saturday. Jaime Garcia started for the Cardinals and once again their starter didn’t last more then five innings but the Cardinals bullpen was outstanding again. Zach Greinke started for the Brewers and wasn’t great but he also wasn’t helped by his defense.
Garcia for the Cardinals started and pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and one run. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five. Octavio Dotel got the win pitching 1 1/3 perfect innings with two strikeouts, three other relievers pitched three innings giving up two hits, no runs with a walk and a strikeout. Greinke for the Brewers pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and five runs but only two of them were earned. He walked two guys and didn’t strike out a batter. Marco Estrada pitched one inning and gave up one hit and two runs with two walks and a strikeout. He put the game pretty much out of reach as it went from 5-1 to 7-1 for the Brewers in the ninth inning.

The Cardinals offense was pretty much Yadier Molina and Matt Holliday. They each had three hits, Holliday had two RBI and Molina had one. Rafael Furcal had a hit, Albert Pujols had a hit, RBI and a walk and Lance Berkman had a hit and a walk. David Freese had a hit and a walk, Garcia had an RBI and Nick Punto drew a walk. Molina, Furcal and Holliday each had a double. The Cardinals were 4-15 with runners in scoring position and they left 11 men on base. Berkman had a stolen base and Garcia picked off a runner.

Corey Hart led the Brewers offense with three hits and an RBI. Jerry Hairston had a hit and a walk, Ryan Braun had a hit and Carlos Gomez had a hit. Jonathan Lucroy had two hits and Greinke had a hit. Braun had a double and the Brewers were 1-8 with runners in scoring position and they left seven men on base. Gomez was caught stealing in the game. The Brewers defense really cost them in this game and Hairston, Weeks, Betancourt and Estrada all had an error.

In the second inning the Cardinals got the scoring started. Molina had an RBI double and Garcia reached on a fielding error by Hairston and two runs scored to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. In the fourth Garcia grounded out and a run scored making it 4-0. The Brewers scored their only run in the fifth on a Hart RBI single. In the sixth Pujols hit an RBI single making it 5-1 Cardinals. In the eighth Holliday hit a two run double to make it 7-1 and complete the scoring in the game.

The Cardinals now have a three games to two lead in the best of seven series. The series shifts back to Milwaukee where the Brewers had the best home record. The Cardinals though were the team that beat them the most in Milwaukee this year. It isn’t impossible but it won’t be easy for the Brewers to win both games to advance to the World Series. The Game Six pitching matchup is Edwin Jackson of the Cardinals against Sean Marcum. If the game does go to a game seven the Cardinals will have their ace Chris Carpenter on the mound. The Brewers won 57 games at home during the regular season and have won four more games in the postseason. They have won one elimination game already which was a Game Five in the NLDS against the Diamondbacks. The Brewers besides their four errors also had two non catches that could have been that cost them.

The Cardinals just keep finding ways to win games in this most improbably run. The Cardinals lost their best starting pitcher in the beginning of the season and were as much as 10 ½ games out in September but caught the Atlanta Braves and won the wild card. The Cardinals also have been getting through this series without a starter going past the fifth inning and their bullpen being great. If you were to say that a starter wouldn’t make it past the fifth you would say the Cardinals would be in big trouble or already have lost the series but that isn’t the case with this team. The Cardinals have won a game on get away day for the 16th straight time and are 29-13 since late August. Teams that have taken a 3-2 lead on the road for the last two games of a best of seven series have won the series 26 out of 43 times in major league history. In the NLCS it is seven out of ten times. The Cardinals haven’t made it easy but they are one win away from another World Series appearance.

Detroit avoids elimination and the series heads back to Texas

The Detroit Tigers defeated the Texas Rangers by the score of 7-5 on Thursday evening. The Tigers with the win staved off elimination and forced a game Six back in Texas on Saturday night. The game wasn’t really in doubt but it got interesting in the end as Justin Verlander threw 133 pitches and Phil Coke finished off the game because the Detroit bullpen was so worn out. Verlander threw well even though it wasn’t great once again and C.J. Wilson was cruising along for Texas until a lucky bounce for Detroit and then it all fell apart in the sixth inning.
C.J. Wilson pitched six innings giving up eight hits and six runs with two walks and five strikeouts. He took the loss in the game. Koji Uehara came into the game and wasn’t very good, he pitched 2/3 of an inning giving up a hit and a run with a walk and a strikeout. The last 1 1/3 innings were good for the Texas bullpen as they gave up one hit and struck out one. Verlander for the Tigers pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up eight hits and four runs. He walked three and struck out eight. He has been heroic in the postseason but clearly isn’t the same dominating pitcher. He has a 5.56 ERA in the postseason. Verlander picked up the win and Coke pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up two hits and a run with a walk and a strikeout.

The Texas offense was spread out as they had ten hits. Ian Kinsler had a hit and a walk, Elvis Andrus had a hit and Josh Hamilton had two hits and two RBI. Michael Young had two hits and an RBI, Adrian Beltre had a walk and Mike Napoli had two hits and a walk. Nelson Cruz had a hit and two RBI, David Murphy had a hit and Mitch Moreland had a walk. Kinsler, Young, Murphy and Hamilton all had a double. Cruz had another homerun his fifth of the series. The Rangers were 2-9 with runners in scoring position and they left ten on base. Andrus made a throwing error.

Delmon Young led the Detroit offense with two hits and three RBI. He had two homeruns. Ryan Raburn had two hits and an RBI, Miguel Cabrera had a hit, RBI and two walks and Victor Martinez had a hit and an RBI. Brandon Inge had a hit and a walk, Alex Avila had a hit and an RBI and Ramon Santiago had two hits. Cabrera had a double and Martinez had a triple. Avila and Raburn also had homeruns to go along with the two by Young. The Tigers were 2-5 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base. Cabrera had a stolen base and Santiago made an error.

In the first inning Hamilton hit a sacrifice fly to give Texas a 1-0 lead. In the third Avila hit a solo homerun to tie the game at one. In the fourth Young hit a solo homerun to give Detroit a 2-1 lead. Hamilton hit an RBI single in the fifth to tie the game at two. In the sixth Cabrera hit an RBI double, Martinez hit an RBI triple and Young hit a two run homerun to give Detroit a 6-2 lead. The hit by Cabrera would of probably been a routine out but instead hit the third base bag and rolled into the outfield for a double and that started the big inning. In the seventh Raburn hit a solo homerun to give Detroit a 7-2 lead. The Rangers started their comeback in the eighth with a two run homerun by Cruz to make it 7-4. In the ninth Young hit an RBI single to make it 7-5 and that was how the game would end.

The Tigers now trail the series three games to two and they will head to Texas to try and force a Game Seven. The series will take a day off on Friday and return on Saturday night. These games have been great and the Tigers have shown resilience. The Rangers I am sure are disappointed they didn’t win it in Game Five but probably feel good about going home to try and win the American League pennant and head to the World Series.

Cruz set an LCS record with five homeruns in the series. The pitching matchup in Game Six is Derek Holland against Max Scherzer. The Rangers twice in this game failed to get runners home from third with less then two outs. They made Verlander work hard but they didn’t get the big blow when they needed it. The Tigers hit for the natural cycle in a 2-2 game. It was the first natural cycle in postseason history which is a single, double, triple and homerun in the same inning. Wilson who is a free agent and looking for a big payday is 0-2 with an 8.04 ERA in three postseason starts this year. This has been a very good series and the drama will continue to unfold on Saturday night, will the Rangers finish the Tigers off or will the Tigers force a winner take all Game Seven? Stay tuned to find out on Saturday.

Texas wins a close one with a big 11th inning

The Texas Rangers defeated the Detroit Tigers by the score of 7-3 on Wednesday night. The final score isn’t an indicator of how good of a game it was. The game was tied in the eleventh inning when Texas scored four runs and then held on for the win. Matt Harrison and Rick Porcello started and were both good. Alexi Ogando blew a save for the Rangers and Jose Valverde took the loss for the Tigers.
Harrison started for the Rangers and he pitched five innings giving up three hits and two runs. He walked two and struck out three. Ogando pitched two innings and blew the save. Ogando gave up a hit, run and a walk with two strikeouts. Mike Adams gave up a hit and a walk in one inning, Darren Oliver pitched a perfect inning and Scott Feldman picked up the win pitching a perfect inning with a strikeout. Neftali Feliz pitched a perfect inning. Porcello started for the Tigers and he pitched 6 2/3 innings giving up eight hits and three runs with two of them being earned. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six. Al Alburquerque pitched 1/3 of an inning and walked a batter, Joaquim Benoit pitched two innings walking one and striking out two. Valverde took the loss pitching 1 1/3 innings giving up three hits and four runs with a walk and two strikeouts. Phil Coke faced two batters and retired them both.

The Texas offense was led by David Murphy and Mike Napoli and the big blow was from the bat of Nelson Cruz once again. Murphy had three hits, Napoli had two hits and an RBI and Cruz had a hit, three RBI and a walk. Ian Kinsler had a hit, RBI and a walk, Elvis Andrus had a hit and an RBI and Josh Hamilton had a hit. Michael Young had a hit and an RBI, Adrian Beltre had a walk and Yorveat Torrealba had a hit. Murphy, Kinsler and Hamilton each had a double. Cruz hit a homerun, the Rangers were 4-9 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base. Kinsler had a stolen base and Cruz was caught stealing. Cruz had an outfield assist.

Austin Jackson drew a walk, Ryan Raburn had a hit and Miguel Cabrera had a hit, two RBI and three walks. Victor Martinez had a hit, Brandon Inge had two hits and an RBI. Cabrera had a double, Inge had a homerun. The Tigers were 1-3 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Jackson was caught stealing and Porcello made an error.

In the third inning Cabrera hit a two run double to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. In the sixth inning Kinsler hit an RBI double, Andrus hit an RBI single and Young had an RBI single to give Texas a 3-2 lead. In the seventh inning Inge hit a solo homerun to tie the game at three. In the eleventh inning Napoli hit an RBI single and Cruz hit a three run homerun to give Texas a 7-3 lead which they would hold onto for the victory.

The final score once again said 7-3 like the other night but the game was another great game. It was close and then in the end Texas broke out, just like the other night. You really need to watch these games to get a feel for it and see how good they have been. It has been an amazing postseason for baseball and even though Texas is one win away from the World Series this has been a good series. The Rangers lead the best of seven series three games to one and Game Five will be on Thursday afternoon at 3:19PM. If the Tigers win and stave off elimination there will be an off day on Friday and the series will resume back in Texas on Saturday. The Rangers got their first outfield assist in postseason history. The Texas manager walked Miguel Cabrera intentionally which will be talked about. Cabrera took out the catcher Napoli on the play but he was out anyway as Napoli held onto the ball. The pitching matchup on Thursday will be C.J. Wilson vs. Justin Verlander. Game Four was delayed by over two hours due to rain.

Detroit gets back in the series with a big win in Detroit

The Detroit Tigers defeated the Texas Rangers by the score of 5-2 on Tuesday night. Doug Fister continued his great run with the Tigers and the bullpen shut the high powered Texas offense down. Colby Lewis started for the Rangers and didn’t pitch very well at all. The bullpen did a pretty good job for the Rangers.
Fister for the Tigers pitched 7 1/3 innings giving up seven hits and two runs with three strikeouts. Joaquim Benoit pitched 2/3 of an inning and he struck out one batter and Jose Valverde pitched an inning giving up a hit and he struck out one batter. Lewis pitched 5 2/3 innings for the Rangers and he gave up eight hits and four runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Koji Uehara gave up two hits and a run and the other two pitchers, pitched 1 2/3 innings giving up a hit and he struck oujt one.

Austin Jackson broke out of his postseason slump with three hits and an RBI. Ramon Santiago had a hit, Miguel Cabrera had two hits and two RBI and Victor Martinez had a hit, RBI and two walks. Jhonny Peralta had two hits and an RBI, Ryan Raburn and Andy Dirks each had a hit. Cabrera and Raburn had a double, Martinez, Cabrera and Peralta had a homerun. The Tigers were 2-7 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base. The Rangers got a double from Yorveat Torrealba and Hamilton. The Rangers were 1-10 with runners in scoring position and they left four men on base.

In the first Hamilton had an RBI single to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. In the fourth inning Martinez hit a solo homerun to tie the game at one. In the fifth inning Cabrera hit an RBI double to give Detroit a 2-1 lead. In the sixth Peralta hit a solo homerun and Jackson hit an RBI single to make it 4-1 Detroit. In the seventh inning Cabrera hit a solo homerun to give Detroit a 5-1 lead. In the eighth inning Kinsler grounded out to score a run and cut the lead. The Tigers had a 5-2 lead and that is how the game would end.

The two teams are tied at one game each in their best of seven series. The winner will advance to the World Series and take on the winner of each league. The Cardinals will have the next three games in St. Louis. The Cardinals of course would love to take all three in St. Louis but know with a couple of wins they will be in good shape going into the next couple of days.

Milwaukee rallies to take Game One of the NLCS

The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 9-6 in Game One of the National League Championship Series. Zach Greinke and Jaime Garcia did not have their best stuff. The offenses both played well and the Brewers won with one big inning. The Brewers scored six runs in the fifth inning.
Greinke pitched six innings for the Brewers giving up eight hits and six runs. He walked two and struck out six. Garcia pitched four innings for the Cardinals giving up six hits and six runs with three walks and three strikeouts. Octavio Dotel for the Cardinals didn’t fare so well in relief of Garcia. Dotel gave up two hits and two runs with one of them being earned in one inning. The Brewers pen only gave up one hit and one walk in three innings of relief. Takashi Saito, Francisco Rodriguez and John Axford were the relievers for the Brewers and they put the Cardinals away without much of a fight. They struck out four batters. The bullpens were the difference in the game. The Cardinals pen gave up three runs and two earned in four innings. They walked two and struck out one.

Rafael Furcal had two hits for the Cardinals, John Jay had a hit and a walk and Albert Pujols had a hit. Lance Berkman had two hits and an RBI, Matt Holliday had two hits and an RBI and Yadier Molina had a walk. David Freese had a hit, walk and three RBI, Furcal had a double and Freese had a homerun. The Cardinals were 3-9 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Dotel made a throwing error.

Cory Hart had a hit and a walk for the Brewers. Jerry Hairston had two hits and a walk, Ryan Braun had two hits and four RBI and Prince Fielder had a hit, walk and two RBI. Rickie Weeks had a hit and a walk, Yuniesky Betancourt had two hits and two RBI and Jonathan Lucroy had two hits and an RBI. Weeks, Hairston, Braun, Lucroy and Betancourt each had a double. Braun, Fielder and Betancourt all had a homerun. The Brewers were 4-11 with runners in scoring position and they left eight men on base.

The Cardinals took the lead in the first inning on a Holliday RBI single. In the bottom of the first Braun hit a two run homerun to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead. In the fourth Freese hit a three run homerun to give the Cardinals a 4-2 lead. Berkman hit an RBI single in the fifth to extend the Cardinals lead to 5-2. In the bottom of the fifth the Brewers had a big inning where they would take the lead and not relinquish it. Braun hit a two run double, Fielder hit a two run homerun and Betancourt hit a two run homerun to give the Brewers a 8-5 lead. In the seventh Pujols grounded into a double play but a run scored making it 8-6. Lucroy hit an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to make it 9-6 and that would conclude the scoring in the game.

The Brewers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the best of seven National League Championship Series. Game Two will take place on Monday night in Milwaukee. This NLCS was the first time since 1982 the Brewers are in a LCS. They of course back then were in the American League. The Brewers had the leagues best home record and they look to go up 2-0 before heading to St. Louis for the middle three games of the series.

The Rangers take Game One despite the Rain

The Texas Rangers defeated the Detroit Tigers by the score of 3-2 in Game One of the 2011 American League Championship Series. The game was played in Arlington, Texas as the Texas Rangers had a better record then the Detroit Tigers and therefore have home field advantage. The game was delayed twice by rain and went deep into the night. I find the ironic thing being that in New York it was absolutely gorgeous and if the Yankees would of won that is where the games would have been played. New York had such bad weather this year and then Texas which hasn’t had rain in so long got a lot of rain for the first game of the ALCS and it is expected to be bad on Sunday for Game Two.
Justin Verlander and C.J. Wilson was the matchup. Wilson is the biggest name pitcher who will be on the free agent market this season and he did his job in Game One. He was shaky in the first game of the postseason against the Tampa Bay Rays but not in this game. The numbers look worse for the starting pitchers because of the rain, that is why they had short outings. Wilson pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up six hits and two runs. He walked five and struck out six. Wilson was cruising along until the rain came. Verlander pitched four innings giving up five hits and three runs with two walks and five strikeouts. Verlander is 0-1 in the postseason with a 6.75 ERA. He is going to win the CY young and may even win the MVP but he has had to deal with weather issues so far in the postseason. The bullpen for Detroit pitched four innings giving up one hit and no runs. They didn’t walk a batter and struck out two. The bullpen for Texas pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up one hit and no runs. They walked one and struck out eight. The bullpens for both teams did an excellent job but I am sure the managers will be looking for length out of their starters in Game Two.

Ramon Santiago had a big game for Detroit with three hits. Austin Jackson had the only RBI of the game for Detroit. Ryan Raburn, Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta each had a hit. The Tigers also drew six walks. Santiago and Jackson each had a double and the Tigers were 1-7 with runners in scoring position and they left nine men on base. Jackson made an error. Texas scattered six hits with Ian Kinsler, Adrian Beltre, Mike Napoli, Nelson Cruz, David Murphy and Mitch Moreland each getting a hit. Kinsler, Cruz and Murphy had the RBI. The Rangers drew two walks, Murphy had a triple and Cruz had a homerun. The Rangers were 1-4 with runners in scoring position and they left five men on base. Kinsler was caught stealing.

In the bottom of the second inning Murphy hit an RBI triple and Kinsler had an RBI single. Texas had a 2-0 lead which they would expand to 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning on a Cruz solo homerun. In the fifth inning Jackson hit an RBI double for the Tigers to make it 3-1 and a wild pitch scored Jackson to make it 3-2. Wilson got Magglio Ordonez to ground out and then the bullpen took over and shut down the Tigers the rest of the way. The final score was 3-2 in favor of the Rangers.

The best of seven series started with a bang as these two teams battled it out and the pitching especially out of the bullpen was outstanding. The two teams will play game two on Sunday night in Texas weather permitting. The series will resume in Detroit on Tuesday after an off day with Games 3, 4 and 5 if necessary in Detoit before the final two games are played back in Texas if necessary. The Rangers are trying to make the World Series for the second straight year while the Tigers are trying to reach the World Series for the first time since 2006 when they also knocked out the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs.