Preview of 2008 MLB American and National League Championship Series

2008 MLB National League Championship Series (NLCS) kicks off Thursday between NL West Champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the NL East Champion Philadelphia Phillies in a best-of-seven series match.

Philadelphia will have home field advantage for this series due to their better regular-season record.

This series marks the first postseason meeting for the Phillies and Dodgers since the 1983 NLCS, which Philadelphia won 3-1 en route to a loss to Baltimore in the World Series. It also marks the first NLCS for both teams since the Division Series was instituted in 1994. Overall, this is the fourth time these two teams have met in the postseason. In addition to the 1983 NLCS, the Dodgers defeated the Phillies 3-1 in the NLCS in both 1977 and 1978.

Going on to the 2008 MLB American League Championship Series (ALCS) features the match up of Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox in Game 1 of the AL championship series Friday night.

Tampa Bay was worst in the majors last year, but they have turned things around and will play for a spot in the World Series.

Tampa Bay, which never won more than 70 games during its 10 previous seasons, went from 96 losses last year to 97 wins and passed the big-spending Red Sox and New York Yankees in the AL East.

No longer bedeviled, the Rays won all year with young talent and improved pitching. Andy Sonnanstine, who pitched a three-hit shutout against the White Sox at Tropicana Field in April, reversed a late-season slide that saw him go winless in his final seven starts.

Tampa Bay will have home field advantage, since by rule a wild card qualifier cannot have home field advantage in an LDS or LCS.

Preview of New York Yankees - Chicago White Sox three game season series

With just over two weeks left in the 2008-09 MLB Season, the New York Yankees are still searching for answers on what seems to be a disappointing year for them in the American League East. Yankees have a 78-70 (win-loss) slate and if things continue to go downwards they might not play in the playoffs.

Monday night they battle the American League Central leader Chicago White Sox 81-65 mark. Pitching coach Don Cooper has been juggling his rotation every way he can so that it lines up how the club wants it to, and that means that the club is prepared to bring LHP Mark Buehrle, RHP Gavin Floyd and RHP Lance Broadway each back on short rest to pitch in against New York Yankees in their three-game season series starting Monday night at the Yankee Stadium.

Starting off of the match up between Chicago White Sox’s Mark Buehrle, a left handed pitcher who has a (13-11, 3.88) and New York Yankees’ Alfredo Aceves. Buehrle stepped up when the White Sox needed a victory to end a three-game losing skid on Wednesday, pitched like an ace against Toronto and Roy Halladay. The left-hander allowed seven hits and two walks over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out six. He improved his record to 10-3 at U.S. Cellular and made his 30th start for a club-record eighth consecutive season. Buehrle has not faced the Yankees this season but has a dismal 1-5 career mark, with a 6.58 ERA, against the Bronx Bombers. Buehrle is 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA at Yankee Stadium, making his final start at the historic ballpark.

One thing is for sure for this 25-year-old right-hander is that he can draw some early consideration for next year's rotation mix if he's able to keep the same level of confidence and composure as he opens New York's series with the White Sox. Alfredo Aceves threw 63 of his 89 pitches for strikes, walking none and striking out two, and turned a nifty double play to help his cause. The Mexican League product is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA through his first 14 big league innings.

For the second encounter between these two struggling teams vying for a spot in the playoffs, White Sox Gavin Floyd was flawless for seven innings against Toronto but as one of baseball’s hottest teams in the 2008-09 MLB Season, , Blue Jays caught Floyd four times in the eighth, as part of a six-run rally, ending Floyd's five-game winning streak and a stretch of nine straight starts without a loss. Floyd struck out two and walked one over 7 1/3 innings, giving him 125 strikeouts and 67 walks over 181 1/3 innings this season. Floyd received a no-decision against the Yankees this season, having allowed five runs in six innings during his lone start, and has no lifetime mark against New York either. Tuesday marks his second appearance and first start at Yankee Stadium.

Meanwhile, Andy Pettitte's struggles on the mound continued on Wednesday as he gave up four runs on nine hits to make an early exit after just 4 2/3 innings. He delivered a solid performance until the fifth inning, when he got into trouble and found himself in a bases-loaded jam. It marked Pettitte's fourth straight losing decision. While he is traditionally successful in the second half of the season, the veteran has posted a 3-6 record with a 5.43 ERA since the All-Star break. He has not faced the White Sox this season and looking forward to bring his A-game against Gavin Floyd.

As for the final day of their three-game season series White Sox’s Ozzie Guillen was going to use Lance Broadway on Sunday against the Tigers, but a series of rainouts made the right-hander unnecessary. Since no other starter will be available on Wednesday, Broadway is the likely to go. He has made one previous start this season, getting the win over Kansas City by allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings on Aug. 14, but he has not been nearly as effective pitching out of the bullpen, as his 8.49 ERA indicates.

Phil Hughes is likely to get the call on Wednesday as the Yankees play the third of four games with the White Sox of the MLB 2008 Season. The right-hander was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday after helping to pitch his club to an International League championship, going 1-0 with an 0.69 ERA in postseason play. Hughes has not pitched in the big leagues since April 29 in Detroit, where he suffered a stress fracture in his ninth rib on the right side. He started against the White Sox on April 24 in Chicago but left after two innings due to rain.

source: MLB.com

Three-game season series between the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays

With so much attention to the 2008 Beijing Olympics let us shift our gear to the America’s favorite past time – baseball. As one can not deny the fact that the 2008 MLB Regular Season is get every as every continue to make their push to the wild card phase and perhaps the playoffs.

Two teams slug it out starting Friday as the three-game season series between the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays unfolds at Fenway Park in Boston. Toronto Blue Jays has 61-59 record while Boston Red Sox has 69-51.

The 2008 MLB game between Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays start at 7pm where Toronto’s Roy Halladay will be match-up against Boston’s Paul Byrd. The right handed pitcher from Blue Jays had a career-high 130 pitches in a loss at home to the Indians on Saturday. He has received just 3.8 runs of support from his offense this season. Halladay is 10-11 with a 4.66 ERA in 34 career games against Boston. For Boston, the right handed pitcher.

Paul Byrd, who was acquired from Cleveland on Tuesday, makes his Red Sox debut and lately has been pitching well. He needed just 94 pitches last time out to get through his first complete game in nearly a year, retiring 12 of the last 13 batters he faced and 20 of the last 22 in a victory over the Blue Jays. After leading the AL in homers allowed in the first half, Byrd hasn't served one up since a July 4 start in Minnesota. That's the biggest reason he has been able to go 4-0 with a 1.24 ERA over his past four starts.

The three-game season series between the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays continue Saturday same time where Shaun Marcum of Toronto goes up versus Josh Becket of Boston.

Toronto Blue Jays’ Shaun Marcum has started to locate his fastball better, and that has allowed the right-hander to more effectively mix in his other pitches. In his last two outings, Marcum has looked much sharper, going 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA. In nine career appearances against the Red Sox, Marcum is 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA. Meanwhile, Boston’s ace right-hander Josh Beckett is looking primed to go on his most dominant run of the season. Beckett won his past two starts, giving up three earned runs over 14 2/3 innings. For some reason, Beckett has struggled at Fenway Park this season, going 5-3 with a 5.03 ERA in nine starts. This will be Beckett's first start against the Blue Jays since April 6, when he gave up three hits and five runs in 4 2/3 innings.

The final game of the three-game season series between the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays ends Sunday afternoon.

Toronto’s A.J Burnett battles Boston’s right hand pitcher Charlie Zink. Toronto’s A.J Burnett has 4.67 ERA and goes with 15-9 win loss to his name while Boston’s Charlie Zink has an average of 16.6 Era

Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees rivalry continues

The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees collide once again in a three-game series of the 2008 MLB Regular Season at Fenway Park in Boston.

Touted as the one of the longest, most bitter and most storied rivalries in professional sports, for over 100 years, Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees of the American League have been chief rivals, compounded by their geographic proximity.

And these two teams will meet again with the second series between this American League East archival continues starting on Friday July 25 until July 27. In their previous season series, both teams were tied going 2-2, where Boston Red Sox took the first two games against the New York Yankees with a 7-0 and 6-4 win, respectively. But on the third and final game, the New York Yankees bounced back with a 2-1 and 5-4 victory.

Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees

Boston Red Sox has a 58-43 win-loss mark just right behind American League East leader Tampa Bay Rays. The starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox against New York Yankees on Friday will be Josh Beckett, who has a 3.98 ERA, 9-6 Win-Loss card he will probably go up against Joba Chamberlain that has a 2.52 ERA.

New York Yankees will field in Andy Pettitte the following day also at Fenway Park. The left handed pitcher has a 3.86 ERA and 11-7 Win-Loss under his name and he will be match-up against the right handed Tim Wakefield of the Red Sox who has 3.69 ERA and 6-7 Win-Loss record.

In the third and final game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, Boston decided to use lefty Jon Lester, the 6-2 Lester has a 3.20 ERA together with a 8-3 Win-Loss card. Meanwhile, Yankees will be fielding in Sidney Ponson, the right handed pitcher has an 4.02 ERA with a 6-1 record.

New York Yankees currently holds the third spot in the American League East Standings followed by Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays.