That's why you pay them a billion dollars

The Yankees got all 4 RBI from Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira to beat the Twins 4-3 in 11 innings. The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the 6th on a RBI by Brendan Harris. In the bottom of the inning A-Rod singled in the tying run. Minnesota got two more in the 8th inning on singles by Nick Punto and Denard Span. In the 9th, Twins closer Joe Nathan could not hold on to the lead as Teixeira singled to lead off the inning and A-Rod hit a two-run homer that electrified the 50,000+ at Yankee Stadium. The game went back and forth until the bottom of the 11th when Teixeira led off the inning with a home run. Now, I'm not a fan of either team in this game, but the umpiring was absolutely terrible. There are 6 umpires so that they can get the fair/foul calls correct. However, in the 11th inning the left field ump called a ball foul that was fair by a good foot or so. The Twins ended up leaving the bases loaded in what could have been a run-scoring inning. The Yankees lead the series 2-0.

The Angels once again used good starting pitching to defeat the Red Sox 4-1. Jared Weaver gave up 1 run in 7-2/3 innings. Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis each had clutch RBIs in the game. The Angels lead the series 2-0.

Ball State goes to Temple this afternoon for a 1pm start. BSU is a 14.5 point underdog with a O/U of 47.5. GO CARDS!!!!

Now that was a little more exciting than yesterday

Two of the three playoff games were pretty good last night, especially in the NL.

Rockies 5, Phillies 4 - The Rockies held off a 9th inning charge from the Phillies as closer Houston Street gave up a walk and a hit, but eventually shut the door to get the save. Yorvit Torreabla was 2-for-3 with a homer and 2 RBI to lead the Colorado offense.

Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2 - Poor Matt Holliday. In game one, he took three straight "strikes" to leave 3 guys on base in the first inning of a game they eventually lost by 2 runs. In game two, he missed a fly ball in the ninth that would have ended the game, and instead the flood gates opened for the Dodgers to score 2 runs and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The true player of the game was Adam Wainwright, who gave up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 7 in 8 innings of work. However, Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin could not shut down LA in the ninth. Ronnie Belliard tied the game with a single and Mark Loretta sent the fans home happy with a bases loaded single to win it.

Angels 5, Red Sox 0 - John Lackey was brilliant, going 7-1/3 innings of shutout ball with only 4 hits and a walk. Torii Hunter had a huge three-run homer in the 5th to give the Angels most of the runs that they needed.


Ball State is now a 14.5 point underdog with a O/U of 47.5. Can BSUs passing attack get more than the 17 points the odds makers think they will score? Will we reach double digits in rushing yards? When do the Cardinals start giving the ball to Eric Williams instead of MiQuale Lewis?


The Redskins are 3.5 point underdogs on the road at Carolina on Sunday. The O/U is 37.5. We all know the Redskins can't score 17 points, but can the defense hold the Panthers under 17 points? We need to run, run, run and not force Jason Campbell into any kind of decision making. He is a good game manager, but is afraid to let it go sometimes. With a win here, the Skins could be 3-2 and they need every win they can get because after the Chiefs game, the schedule gets pretty ugly.

Not a very exciting way to start the playoffs

All three home teams won game one of their respective playoff series last night. All of the games had been decided by the 6th inning, so there wasn't any drama compared to Tuesday's game.

Phillies 5, Rockies 1 - Cliff Lee showed why the Phillies traded for him by pitching a complete game, only giving up 1 run and 6 hits. Jason Werth and Raul Ibanez each had 2 hits and a RBI.

Yankees 7, Twins 2 - Derek Jeter had a great game going 2-for-2 with a homer, 2 walks, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Nick Swisher had a double and a RBI that put the game away. CC Sabathia gave up 1 earned run in 6-2/3 innings to get the win.

Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3 - Jeff Weaver relieved starter Randy Wolf and got out of a jam in the 4th inning to get the win. Matt Kemp had a two-run homer in the first inning that gave the Dodgers a lead that they would not relinquish. Russell Martin was on base three times without a hit, taking two walks and getting hit with the bases loaded to drive in a run.

There are three games today. Phillies/Rockies and Dodgers/Cardinals play game two of their series while the Red Sox/Angels play game one.

Ball State is a 13.5 point underdog against Temple on Saturday. The over/under is 48.5. Can BSU run the ball against Temple's great run defense? Can BSU pass the ball well enough to score? Will BSU ever win a game again? We will see on Saturday. Game time is 1pm.

What a game!!!

You gotta like it when game 163 goes extra innings. A winner-take-all game is great, but to have the game be so close and then go three more innings is awesome. I only wish that it was a National League game so the managers would actually have to think about what they are doing instead of just letting things happen. I know that Fernando Rodney would not have pitched three innings if he would have to bat in the 11th inning. Anyways, here is the game graph from www.fangraphs.com that shows what a great game this was.




The playoffs start today with a triple-header. Phillies-Rockies, Yankees-Twins, and Cardinals-Dodgers all play tonight while the Red Sox-Angels series starts tomorrow.

I'll take the Phillies, Dodgers, Yankees, and Red Sox to win their respective series.

Not knowing what to write about

The first post after the Braves season ends is always a weird one. I'm not too sure what to write about. I could write about Ball State football or the Redskins, but they only play one game a week. With baseball, you have something to talk about every day. But we do get some free baseball today, so I'll talk about that!

Detroit goes to Minnesota for a one-game playoff to decide the AL Central division title. Rookie Rick Porcello takes the mound for the Tigers while 5-year veteran Scott Baker will throw for the Twins. Neither pitcher had pitched well against the other team this year, although Porcello has been just a little better. Porcello has also pitched better in pressure situations this year and there is no higher pressure game than the one he is pitching in tonight. I'll pick the Tigers on the road.

Ball State is getting some love from the odds makers as their line against Temple has fallen to +13.5. I look for the over/under to be around 50. The Cardinals will need to pass the ball well, as the Temple run defense is top-ranked in the MAC. That shouldn't be a problem as we can't run the ball anyway....

The Redskins next two games are against teams that have not won this season, although the Lions hadn't won in a long time and we all know how that turned out. Washington travels to Carolina where the Panthers are a 3.5 point favorite. Since the Skins are 0-3-1 against the spread this year, I don't look for them to compete in this game at all.

That's not the way you would like to end the season

The Braves lost their sixth straight game yesterday, losing to the Nationals 2-1 in 15 innings. Since getting within 2 games of the wild card a week ago, the Braves are 1-6 and fell to third place in the division behind the Phillies and Marlins. Once again, the pitching was good (2 ER in 15 innings), but the offense could not hit at all. We had a chance in the bottom of the 15th, down 2-1 with runners on 2nd and 3rd, but Brooks Conrad struck out on a check swing to end the game. The Braves finished 86-76, which is a 12-game improvement from last year, so it's not all bad. But it could have been a lot better....

Ball State is an early 14-point underdog at Temple this weekend. Saturday's game is at 1pm EST.

The Washington Redskins pulled out another ugly win as they beat Tampa Bay 16-13. Skins QB Jason Campbell had 3 INTs and a lost fumble while throwing for 170 yards and 2 TDs. Clinton Portis had 98 yards on 25 carries. Santana Moss had a 59 yard TD catch. DeAngelo Hall had a huge INT and Reed Doughty led the team with 10 tackles. The Redskins go to Carolina next week to play the 0-3 Panthers. I imagine that this game will be just as ugly as the previous four games. But, on a good note, even though the play has not been good we are only 1/2 game out of the last playoff spot. A few lucky breaks here and there and we could slide in to the playoffs with our weak schedule.

I really don't know what to say...all of my teams suck

The Braves lost their fifth straight game, losing to the Nationals 6-4 in 11 innings. Once again, Jair Jurrjens pitched a great game but did not get any support from the offense. Jurrjens threw 8 innings and gave up 2 earned runs to lower his ERA to 2.60. The weary bullpen gave up 4 runs in 3 innings. Braves radio announcer Don Sutton said it best, "Once the balloon is deflated, it is hard to blow it up again." Once the Braves had fallen out of the playoffs, they have played lackluster baseball to end the season. Game 162 is today at 135p. Tim Hudson will pitch for the Braves.

The Ball State football team took the lead with 52 seconds to go on a Boise-like 2-point conversion, but could not hold on to the victory. Toledo ran back the ensuing kickoff to mid-field and then exploited a blown coverage to score the winning touchdown with 27 second left to give them a 37-30 win. BSU gave up 479 yards to the Rockets while only gaining 310 themselves. Toledo had some huge third-down conversions. In their final drive of the first half, the Rockets converted a 3rd-and-28 and a 3rd-and-23 to take the lead going into the half. In the fourth quarter, Toledo scored on a 3rd-and-14 from midfield to tie the game at 22. The Ball State defense was non-existent throughout the game and was only helped by 3 turnovers and 104 yards in penalties from Toledo. BSU's next game is on Saturday at Temple. The Owls are 2-2 with losses to D-1A Villanova and a loss to Penn State. Their wins have come against Buffalo and Eastern Michigan. My early guess is that BSU will be a 10 to 12 point underdog.

The Washington Redskins attempt to get back on the winning track as they host the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Skins are a 9 point favorite, but since they are 0-2-1 against the spread this year, I wouldn't think they would win by that much, if they would win at all. The over under is 37, so first one to score three touchdowns wins!!!