2013 American League Championship Series Preview

After a long and grueling regular season and the divisional round of the playoffs, the American League Championship series is set to go between the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. For the third consecutive year, the Tigers will play in the American League Championship Series. They clinched their berth with a 3-0 win over the Athletics in ALDS Game 5 on Thursday night. The Red Sox clinched their ALCS spot -- their first since 2008 -- with a win over the Rays in Game 4 of their ALDS matchup earlier this week.

The Red Sox have made it to the ALCS for the 5th time since 2000, winning two titles. The Tigers have played in now their third straight ALCS and 4th since 2000. Since 2000 the Tigers have made it to the World Series twice, and they lost both of them.

The Tigers and Red Sox are not division rivals, so they only played seven times during the regular season. The Tigers won four of the seven -- three of four at Comerica Park but only one of three at Fenway Park. The Red Sox outscored them 43-35 in the seven games, however. The best-of-7 ALCS starts Saturday night in Boston. These were the two highest-scoring teams in the AL this year, so expect to see a bunch of runs regardless of who's on the mound.

Here's the date, time and location of every scheduled game of this series:
October 12 Detroit Tigers vs. Boston Red Sox 8PM
October 13 Detroit Tigers vs. Boston Red Sox 8PM
October 15 Boston Red Sox vs. Detroit Tigers 4PM
October 16 Boston Red Sox vs. Detroit Tigers 8PM
October 17† Boston Red Sox vs. Detroit Tigers 8PM
October 19† Detroit Tigers vs. Boston Red Sox 4:30PM
October 20† Detroit Tigers vs. Boston Red Sox 8PM

The offenses are going to be involved in a slugfesst. that is pretty much a given with these two ball clubs. The Red Sox have an advantage in a few fielding positions, except 3rd base. Lets face it Miguel Cabrara is the best 3rd baseman in the American League. Pitching sort of balances itself out in this series. Detroit has an edge in starting pitching, especially near the top of that rotation. Boston though has a better bullpen, except for maybe the closer spot.

The Red Sox definitely have that look of being unbeatable right now. They score a ton of runs and they do a great job of preventing them as well. That said, I think the Tigers have the two best pitchers (Scherzer and Verlander) as well as the best position player (Cabrera) in the series on their roster. In a short series where star power gets more of a chance to shine than sheer depth, I think Detroit has a bit of an advantage. This series should be an awful lot of fun and I don't see it ending early. I'll take the Tigers in seven.

2013 National League Championship Series Preview

The stage is set. After a long 162 game regular season, plus a grueling Divisional round of the playoffs, the series is set to determine the best team in the National League this season. the Los Angeles Dodgers get set to take on the streaking St Louis Cardinals in the NLCS for 2013. The winner of this series punches their ticket to the World Series.

For the Dodgers, they come in as the NL West Champions, finishing the regular season with a record of 92-70. This was the first time in four years the Dodgers had won the NL West. Once the playoffs started, they disposed of the NL East champions the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers are 5-2 all time in the NLCS, their last win in the league championship series coming in 1988, the last time they won the world series. LA last played in the NLCS in 2009, which they lost to the Cardinals, that coming a year after losing to the Phillies in the 2008 NLCS. This is the first time the Dodgers had made the playoffs under manager Don Mattingly. All time, the Dodgers have a record of 70-86 with six world series titles to their credit. Three of those titles came while the franchise was still in Brooklyn.

As for the Cardinals, this is the 3rd consecutive year they are playing in the NLCS, and the 4th time in the last 7 years they are playing for the NL Pennant. In fact, since 2000 the Cardinals have made the NLCS 7 times, going 3-4 in those series. St Louis is 116-101 all time in the playoffs, in franchise history, and have 11 world series titles to show for all that success. St Louis got here after holding off the wild card winners the Pittsburgh Pirates in a hard fought five game series. St Louis has home field advantage in this NLCS. This will be the fourth postseason meeting between the Cardinals and Dodgers. They previously met in the 1985 NLCS (Cardinals won 4–2), 2004 NLDS (Cardinals won 3–1), and 2009 NLDS (Dodgers won 3–0). Of the seven games played between the two teams during the regular season, the Dodgers won the series 4-3.

Here's the date, time and location of every game during this best of seven series:

Oct 11, 2013 LAD @ STL 8:37 PM ET
Oct 12, 2013 LAD @ STL 4:07 PM ET
Oct 14, 2013 STL @ LAD 8:07 PM ET
Oct 15, 2013 STL @ LAD 8:07 PM ET
Oct 16, 2013 STL @ LAD 4:07 PM ET
Oct 18, 2013 LAD @ STL 8:37 PM ET
Oct 19, 2013 LAD @ STL 8:37 PM ET

All games are set to be broadcast on TBS and ESPN Radio.

The series matches a largely homegrown team seeking its second World Series appearance in three years against one that's been among the biggest spenders trying to get there for the first time in a quarter-century. The Dodgers spent well over $200 million to put together their team.

This series pits two of the highest scoring, and best power hitting teams in the league. LA has scored 26 runs in the 4 games against Atlanta, and hit 7 home runs. St Louis scored 21 runs off 6 long balls. These two clubs also have some of the best pitching numbers in the playoffs as well. The have both struck out 40+ opposing hitters, with the Cardinals boasting a team ERA of 2.66, while the Dodgers come in with a 3.09 ERA. So this is going to make for a highly entertaining series, considering that both clubs are pretty evenly matched.  Both teams are a little banged up, the Dodgers are going to be limited with what outfielder Andre Either can do, same thing with the Cardinals and Adam Craig.

What this series is going to come down to is, who can come up with the bigger hit in the series. It's going to go six games easy. St Louis does have a good team, but they are back on their heels a little coming off the five game series with the Pirates. Plus they are facing a team that has been knocking the cover off the ball lately. St. Louis is going to put up a good fight but I think the Dodgers take the series in six.

Best and Worst of Week Five In The NFL

Week five of the 2013 NFL season is in the books, showing us that there are still surprises that can happen on any given week. The New England Patriots perfect season comes to an end, the New York Giants are still winless, Josh Freeman has a new team to play with, Geno Smith comes of age on Monday Night Football. Dallas and Denver treated fans to a shootout in Big D, until Tony Romo made that one mistake near the end that gave Denver the win. All in all a good week in the NFL. So with all of that in mind, lets take a look at some of the best and worst from week five in the NFL.

Best:
Geno Smith Quarterback New York Jets
Smith really showed me something on Monday night. Its the big stage of Monday Night Football, in a building that's normally a tough place to play in in the Georgia Dome. Smith had seemed to struggle a little over the first four weeks of the season, turning the ball over 11 times, including a disasterous week last week against the Titans. This week Smith went 16 of 20 for 199 yards 3 touchdowns and more importantly NO INTERCEPTIONS. Smith actually held onto the football, and lead the game winning drive with under two minutes to go in the ball game. He really had a coming of age this week. The big question going forward is, is this the real Geno Smith or is this just a flash in the pan? Whatever it is, it was a great performance from the rookie.

Worst:
Tom Brady Quarterback New England Patriots
Brady went 18 for 38 for 138 yards, got picked once and was sacked four times. Now the four sacks weren't his fault, his line just simply was unable to help keep him on his feet. He struggled for the first 58 minutes of the game.It still looked like he might be able to pull off some of his famous late game magic, but after three first downs got him down to the Bengals 27, Brady’s deep pick to Pacman Jones sealed the loss, as well as the end of the future Hall of Famer’s streak of 52 games with a touchdown pass. His post-game outfit was pretty fantastic though.

Best:
Drew Brees and Jimmy Graham New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are one of the few teams left in the NFL that are 5-0 at this point in the season. A big reason for that has been the connection between quarterback Drew Brees and tight end Jimmy Graham. Graham, who is currently on pace to obliterate the NFL single-season record for yards receiving by a tight end by 560 yards, was targeted 11 times in New Orleans’ 26-18 win over the Bears and pulled in ten catches for 135 yards.

Worst:
Tony Romo Quarterback Dallas Cowboys
I know I praised the Cowboys for the game they played against Denver, and they did play one hell of a ball game. Tony Romo played out of his mind. He went 25 of 36 for 506 yards and 5 touchdowns. Then why do I have him here on a worst list? Because of the one bad pass he threw at the end of the ball game. Throwing a pick to Danny Trevathan with two minutes left to set up the Broncos’ game-winning field goal. That's why Romo is on a worst list. The one mistake pass cost Dallas the game. Sure Romo had one hell of a week, but one play undid all of it.

Best:
T Y Hilton Wide Receiver Indianapolis Colts
With the exception of a 47-yard catch in the team’s Week 2 loss to Miami, Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton hadn’t done much to showcase the big play potential announcers and fantasy experts had been touting all preseason. He certainly made up for it in Indianapolis’ 34-28 win over Seattle, faking out safety Earl Thomas for a 73-yard touchdown, one of his two scoring plays on Sunday. He finished the day with 5 catches for 140 yards. Hilton was one of the big reasons why the Colts knocked off the Seahawks.

Worst:
Mike Munchak Head Coach Tennessee Titans
Not really sure if its Munchak that should get this or his offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains that should get this. Here's the reason I even have them here. The Titans struggled badly to score in the red zone, especially late in the ball game. After finally getting into the red zone for the first time all game, the Titans failed to score on three plays after getting a 1st and 1 at the Kansas City goal line in the second quarter. Down 10-0, Munchak and Loggains opted to go for it on fourth down but chose a predictable carry up the middle by Jackie Battle that went nowhere. The team also couldn’t do anything on a 1st and goal from the KC 7 in the third quarter, giving them three points (and only three yards) on those eight plays. If the Titans want to prove to the rest of the league that they can really do something, play calling has got to be better than that.

Best:
Baltimore Ravens Pass Rush
So much for the demise of Baltimore’s defense without Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and several other key members of the Super Bowl winning group. Terrell Suggs got to Ryan Tannehill for three sacks and Elvis Dumervil, Courtney Upshaw and Pernell McPhee each added one in the Ravens’ 26-23 win over the Dolphins. So yeah the Ravens seemed to find their intimidating defense once again.

Worst:
New York Giants Defense
While their offense continues to turn over the football at an alarming rate, the 0-5 Giants defense has given up at least 31 points in each of its five games this season, the first team to do so since the Chicago Cardinals in 1954. Sure going into the season, there were questions about the Giants defense. You knew from the start of the season that the defense was going to be average to good for the Giants to have a chance. The offense was supposed to be a lock and they have had their own problems. The last few weeks the Giants defense has really been coming up short. The team doesn’t have much time to come up with a new plan as they head to Chicago to face the Bears in primetime Thursday night.

The Best And Worst From Week Four In The NFL

Another week has come and gone during the NFL season. Teams are looking up, while some others are really struggling. We now have five teams that are undefeated: New England, Denver, Kansas City, Seattle and New Orleans. At the same time we still have the Giants, Bucs, Steelers and Jaguars that are winless. Injuries are starting to pile up, as Jake Lockert went down with a knee injury against the Jets. Some players are really starting to find their stride, while others are struggling. So now with that in mind, lets take a look at some of the best and worst from week four of the NFL season.

Best:
Reggie Bush, Running Back Detroit Lions
Coming into this season, there was a question mark as to how good Bush was going to be. He hasn't looked like the same Back that made a name for himself with the Saints. But Bush made a statement that he was back. He had 18 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown. Now those are good numbers. To make this more interesting, he did it against the Bears defense, which is one of the better run defenses in the league. It appears, at least for one week, that Reggie Bush has returned to form.

Worst:
Joe Flacco Quarterback Baltimore Ravens
Coming off his Super Bowl MVP, and his new contract, a lot was expected from Flacco coming into this season. In week four, he was a little disappointing. Sure he threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns. At the same time he went 25 of 50 and threw 5 interceptions. No you didn't read that wrong Flacco was picked off five times Sunday against the Bills. Still the Ravens only lost 23-20. Flacco has got to play better if the Ravens want to maintain that lead in the division.

Best:
Drew Brees Quarterback New Orleans Saints
Brees was nearly perfect throwing the ball Monday night against the Fins. He went 30 of 39 for 413 yards and four touchdowns. Twice Brees found Jimmy Graham for touchdowns, with the other two tosses going to Benjamin Watson and Darren Sproles. The reason Brees is here is because of the 4 TD's and 0 picks. Plus he only missed 9 passes all game, something that's really tough to do during the course of a game.

Worst:
Geno Smith Quarterback New York Jets
Smith went 23 of 34 for 289 yards 1 touchdown and 2 picks. He was sacked 5 times, and turned the ball over two other times. This was Smith's worst start during the regular season. Now with Mark Sanchez likely done for the year with shoulder surgery, Smith is the man in New York. If he doesn't get it together, and quickly, its going to go straight downhill for the Jets the rest of the way. He has got to cut down on his turnovers otherwise the Jets may make the switch and go with Matt Simms as their starter.

Best:
Victor Cruz Wide Receiver New York Giants
\Cruz was a big help for Eli on Sunday. Despite the Giants coming up short against the Chiefs, and only scoring 7 points, Cruz still had a big day. Cruz had 10 catches for 164 yards and scored the lone touchdown of the ball game. He really has been the one offensive bright spot for Big Blue all season.

Worst:
Hakeem Nicks Wide Receiver New York Giants
As good as Cruz has been for the Giants last week, Nicks wasn't. The Giants receiver complained that he couldn’t “throw it to myself” after the team’s Week 3 38-0 drubbing in Carolina. Eli Manning targeted Nicks nine times during Sunday’s loss to Kansas City, but Nicks produced only three catches for 33 yards and had multiple drops. So Nicks had a bad week, and for the Giants to be able to recover, and try and get back into the playoff picture, he needs to get it together

Who Wins 2013 NL MVP?

With the 2013 baseball season coming to a close, the National League has had its fair share of players who could definitely be considered for Most Valuable Player. I honestly believe that it’s going to come down to a list of four players that have done more than enough for consideration for this award.

1. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Atlanta Braves
In his third full season, the young first baseman for the Atlanta Braves is putting up quite the season, with a .317 batting average to go along with 23 HR’s and 107 RBI’s. Being one of the cornerstones of the Atlanta Braves franchise, Freddie Freeman provided a constant source of power, especially during times when Justin Upton was cold at the plate. He is one of the reasons why the Atlanta Braves have been near the top of the National League for a majority of the season and with the superstar potential he has, the Braves could be contending for multiple World Series’ to come.

2. Andrew McCutchen, CF, Pittsburgh Pirates
Perhaps the most exciting player on this list, Andrew McCutchen has been the catalyst of  the Pittsburgh Pirates for the last few years, finally paying off this year with not only their first  winning season since 1992, but also their first playoff appearance since 1992. Although he is  regressed a little bit in the second half, McCutchen has put up a very solid line of a .317 batting  average to go along with 21 HR’s and 84 RBI’s and even 27 SB’s. Now that the players around  him have finally developed, the Pittsburgh Pirates look to be serious playoff contenders and  possibly World Series contenders for years to come.

3. Matt Carpenter, 2B, St. Louis Cardinals
This one was a tough choice because Yadier Molina is also a very important piece to the success of the St. Louis Cardinals, but I’m going with the young second baseman because of his versatility at the top of the lineup. Leading the NL in both runs scored and hits to go along with a .320 batting average, Matt Carpenter has been one of the primary catalysts for St. Louis having the best record in the National League. Him getting on base allows for the power bats such as Molina and Carlos Beltran to drive in the runs and if he continues to progress, he can one of the best leadoff hitters for years to come.

4. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks
If the Arizona Diamondbacks won the division, then Paul Goldschmidt would definitely have the award in the bag because of the huge season that he’s having. With a .302 batting average to go along with 36 HR’s and 124 RBI’s, he’s having an MVP like year in only his second full season. Unfortunately, what will hurt him in the MVP race is the team that surrounds him and that the Diamondbacks fell out of the division race pretty early in the second half of the year. He has nowhere to go but up and he’s going to win MVP’s down the road if he continues on this road.

5. Clayton Kershaw, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers
Generally, it’s very difficult for pitchers to win an MVP award considering they have their own Cy Young award, but it has happened, most recently Justin Verlander in 2011. With a line that includes a 16-9 record, 232 K’s, a .915 WHIP, and an ERA of 1.83 (lowest ERA in NL since 1995), Clayton Kershaw has the possibility of taking both awards this year. He has pitched in games where he has given up 2 or fewer runs to the tune of either a no decision or a loss, hence why he has 9 losses when he could have had possibly only 4 or 5 and a few more wins. And winning the ERA crown for the third straight year is the cherry on top for this superstar ace of the Dodgers.

My Final Opinion
With a wide open race this year, it’s very difficult for me to pick a clear winner for NL MVP. All five of the candidates have their own merits that would be considered worthy of the award. In my opinion, I think the award is going to go to Andrew McCutchen, giving consideration to the fact that the Pirates finally got the monkey off their back and made it to the playoffs for the first time in 21 years.

NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen

Written by Executive Producer Gregory Delaney

Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays Set To Go In Play In Game

This is a win or go home situation for both of these clubs. Game 163 is set to go tonight as the Tampa Bay Rays head to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers. The winner gets the final wild card spot in the American League, and will have to head to Cleveland on Wednesday to play the Indians.

This game is being played in Texas based on the head to head matchups between the two teams this season. Texas took four of seven from the Rays this year, and will head home for the one game playoff. Tampa Bay dropped two of three to the Blue Jays over the weekend, but won Sunday to force the playoff. The Rangers, after struggling for much of September, closed the regular season with seven straight wins to advance to Game 163.

Texas really needed to play desperate ball down the stretch, as for the early part of September, the Rangers really struggled to win ball games. But they found their mojo late in the year, winning their final seven games of the season to force this playoff. Going into the final stretch, it looked like having Nelson Cruz out of the Rangers lineup was going to hurt them, as Cruz was out due to the steroid suspension. But the Rangers found a way to pull together, pick up the pieces and force the one game playoff.

As for the Rays, they had floated around the wild card spots for the entire season, but I feel dropping two of three against Toronto in the final weekend made things more interesting than they had to be. Tampa has been a little more consistent this year than the Rangers have, and this one game will decide who moves on and who goes home.

On the mound for the Rangers is going to be left-hander Martin Perez. Perez finished the year 11-9 with a 4.01 ERA and has had a good year playing for the Rangers, after getting called up from Triple-A. So Ron Washington is showing bigtime confidence in Perez to have him start this game.

Another big plus for the Rangers in this contest is going to be the returning Nelson Cruz. He will be activated and in the lineup for the playoff game. With Cruz out of the lineup, the Rangers went 29-21. Cruz has not played in a regular-season game since Aug. 4. He was hitting .269 with 27 home runs, 76 RBIs and a .511 slugging percentage at the time he was suspended.

So with Cruz back in the lineup, it throws in a bit of a monkey wrench into the plans for Rays Starter David Price. He was 9-8 with a 3.39 ERA. Price comes into Monday's matchup sporting a 2.73 ERA in his last four starts, but he's facing a squad he has been anything but dominant against throughout his career. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner is 1-4 with a 5.98 ERA in eight starts career starts against Texas -- including a 10.26 mark in four starts in Arlington.

For the Rays to have a chance to win tonight, they have to slow down the Texas baserunners. The Rangers were second in the Majors with 148 stolen bases this season, with five different players reaching double figures. Rays catchers caught only 21 percent (32-of-150) of basestealers this season, tied for the third-worst mark in the Majors. So if you slow down the Rangers on the base paths, then you have a bigtime chance to win.  The Rangers are going with the rookie in Perez on the hill, but with the way he has pitched as of late, he really doesn't look like a rookie. The 22-year-old is 7-2 with a 3.26 ERA in his past 10 starts. A smart move by Rangers management, they will have Alexi Ogando and Matt Garza available out of the bullpen to back Perez, who has not yet faced Tampa Bay this season.

Finally, this is the fourth time in the last seven seasons that there has been a game 163!

Henderson Alverez No Hits The Detroit Tigers

In a season that has been marked by bad baseball, the Miami Marlins end the season on a very high note. Not only did they close out the season with a three game sweep of the AL Central Champions the Detroit Tigers, they did so behind Henderson Alverez and his no hitter, the third in the big leagues this year. Alverez joins Homer Bailey (July 2nd) and Tim Lincecum (July 13th) to throw no no's in the bigs this season. And the kicker with this no hitter is, Alverez had to wait for the Marlins to score a run in the bottom of the 9th to make it stand up. This game ended on a wild pitch. Giancarlo Stanton crossed the plate standing up when a breaking ball skipped to the backstop, and Alvarez had his no-hitter, beating the Tigers on the final day of the regular season Sunday, 1-0.

Alverez struck out four, walked one and hit one batter. It was a patchwork Tigers lineup, as they had already clinched a playoff spot and division title. But lets not take anything away from Alverez, he still had to be on his game in order to get the no-hitter. It doesn't matter whether its a patchwork lineup, or the Tigers regulars, it still counts as a no-hitter in the record books all the same. It was the fourth season-ending no-hitter ever, and first since Mike Witt of the Angels threw a perfect game at Texas in 1984. In 1975, Vida Blue and three Oakland relievers combined to no-hit the Angels and in 1892, Bumpus Jones of Cincinnati did it against Pittsburgh, according to STATS. So this was a big day for baseball. This isn't the first time a Marlins pitcher has thrown a no hitter. It is actually the 5th in franchise history. The other four are:

Sept. 6, 2006 Anibal Sanchez vs. D-backs 2-0 W
May 12, 2001 A.J. Burnett vs. Padres 3-0 W
June 10, 1997 Kevin Brown vs. Giants 9-0 W
May 11, 1996 Al Leiter vs. Rockies 11-0 W

Of the 282 no-hitters in history, it was the only one to end on a wild pitch, according to STATS. And it was the first walk-off complete-game no-hitter since Virgil Trucks of the Tigers threw one on May 15, 1952, against Washington. So its a great way to end the season for the Marlins!