The tiebreaker game last night between the White Sox and the Twins was what a baseball game should be. Great crowd, great defense, great pitching, and a one-run game. Jim Thome homered for the only run of the game as the White Sox beat the Twins to take the AL Central and advance to the playoffs. Nick Blackburn threw 6-1/3 innings for the Twins and only gave up one run, but it was the only run that mattered. John Danks threw 8 innings of shutout ball for the White Sox and only gave up 2 hits and Bobby Jenks threw the 9th for the save. The White Sox will play the Rays starting on Thursday.
As for the other playoff series, here are my predictions:
LAA vs Boston - LAA dominated the season series 8-1. LAA hit well (901 OPS) and pitched well (3.60 ERA) during the season series. Plus, the Angels have home field advantage. I don't see this one going more than 4 games with the Angels winning the series.
Rays vs White Sox - This was a close, low-scoring series during the year. Both teams had OPS under 735 and ERAs below 3.35 against each other. Just like last night's game, whoever scores first may end up winning the game. I think this series will go 5 games and the White Sox will win.
Dodgers vs Cubs - This series has even better pitching and worse hitting than the Rays/White Sox series. Both teams have OPS below 660 and ERAs under 2.50 against each other. However, things did break the Cubbies way as they won the season series 5-2. I think the Cubs win this one in 4 games.
Phillies vs Brewers - The Phillies played well in the season series with the Brewers. They had an OPS of 899 and an ERA of 2.72, taking the season series 5-1. Milwaukee had a 686 OPS and an ERA of 5.76. The Phillies will win this one in 3 games.
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