King Kaufman's Sports Daily
Cubs, Phillies on the ropes as beatdowns abound. Yankees routed too. Plus: NFL Week 5 picks.
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Oct. 5, 2007 | We tuned in looking for October baseball and some September college football broke out. Thursday was beatdown day in the playoffs, with the Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians and Arizona Diamondbacks all winning handily.
This kind of thing can turn around in the space of one inning -- Wednesday was pitcher's duel day, after all -- but so far the National League playoffs are looking like a double wipeout, with the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies headed for an early exit.
The Diamondbacks, that team that got outscored during the regular season, are looking like a juggernaut after following up Wednesday's close win with an 8-4 pounding of the Cubs that was more lopsided than that score sounds for most of the game, though Chicago mounted a minor threat in the ninth inning.
It might be necessary to consider the opponent, to entertain the possibility that the Cubs really are representative of their weak division. Then again it might be wise to consider that the Cubs haven't had a crack at Arizona's third starter, Livan Hernandez, who posted a 6.67 ERA in five September starts without really raising any eyebrows, if you know what I mean. They'll get him at Wrigley Field Saturday. Rich Hill, a lefty who turned in a fine season, will throw for Chicago.
The Phillies and Rockies pounded on each other early Thursday, Troy Tulowitzki and Matt Holliday hitting homers in the top of the first inning and Jimmy Rollins answering with his own in the bottom half, then a two-run triple in the second for a 3-2 Phillies lead. But Kaz Matsui, of all people, turned the game around with a grand slam in the fourth inning and the Rockies cruised, 10-5.
Now the Phillies have to go to Denver and win twice just to get back home. Philly came into the postseason hot, having won 13 of 17. The Rockies are still hot. They've won 16 of 17. It's getting to the point where it's hard to imagine them losing a game.
The New York Yankees finally got their postseason started, and they did it with a bang, leadoff hitter Johnny Damon greeting C.C. Sabathia with a home run. But Chien-Ming Wang couldn't control his sinker and the Indians jumped on him for eight runs on the way to a 12-3 clubbing.
Sabathia, a Cy Young candidate, wasn't sharp, walking six, but he managed to hold the Yanks to three runs in five innings before the trio of Rafael Perez, Jensen Lewis and Rafael Betancourt combined to toss four innings of one hit, shutout relief with no walks and six strikeouts. Starting pitching was supposed to be the Indians' advantage coming in, but Thursday the bats and bullpen dominated for Cleveland.