AL and NL Championship Series Predictions

MLB Playoff Update

The first round of the MLB playoffs is now over and only four teams are left alive. In the American League, the Oakland Athletics and the Detroit Tigers advanced and in the National League, the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals advanced. The Tigers surprisingly defeated the New York Yankees in the American League Divisional Series (ALDS), winning the series 3 games to 1. The Yankees, who supposedly had the best lineup in baseball history, were expected to win the series easily, after the Tigers had a rough last month of the season, falling from the top of the AL Central, to the Wild Card.

The Yankees were outpitched by the Tigers starters, Justin Verlander, Kenny Rogers, and Jeremy Bonderman, and Detroit’s stellar bullpen, led by flamethrower Joel Zumaya and veteran Todd Jones. Rogers, a 41 year old veteran who has struggled in the playoffs in the past and has never pitched well against the Yankees, had the game of his life in Game Three, pitching 7 and 2/3 innings of five hit baseball, striking out 8. Bonderman held the Yankees hitless for five innings in Game Four.

The Tigers are the major story of the playoffs so far and have taken the city of Detroit by storm. The Tigers carried manager Jim Leyland off the field and then later returned to celebrate with the 43,000 fans in attendance. The Tigers, who were one of the worst teams in baseball history just a few years ago, have developed good young players, like Verlander, Zumaya, and Bonderman and signed solid veterans, like Rogers, Jones catcher Ivan Rodriguez, and outfielder Magglio Ordonez.

In the other American League series, the Oakland Athletics easily took care of the Minnesota Twins, winning three games to none, by outhitting and outpitching them, including a big win over the top pitcher in the AL, Johan Santana. The A’s were led by longtime ace Barry Zito and Dan Haren, and a strong performance from the bullpen, Kiko Calero, Justin Duchshcerer and Huston Street specifically.

In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers fought hard to defeat the New York Mets, but fell three games to none. The Mets, who are without their two top starting pitchers, Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez, won with hitting. Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado make up the best hitting lineup left in the playoffs. In Game Three on Saturday, the Mets were down 4-3 after five innings, but rallied to score five more runs to win 9-5. David Wright had four RBI in the series, while Jose Reyes had three.

The Cardinals lost one game to the San Diego Padres, when Padres’ starter Chris Young dominated the Cardinal’s hitters, including perennial MVP candidate Albert Pujols. Chris Carpenter, who is the top candidate for the NL Cy Young Award, was able to win both games he started to help the Cards eliminate the Padres in the first round for the second straight season. Carpenter had a 2.02 ERA in his two starts, shutting down the Padres offense in both games.

League Championship Series Predictions

The Detroit Tigers carry momentum into the AL Championship Series (ALCS), which begins on Tuesday, October 10th. The Tigers were the best pitching team in the MLB this entire season, leading both leagues in team ERA. However, the pitchers struggled down the stretch and many experts wondered how the young pitchers and Rogers would handle the playoff pressure. After the Yankees series the Tigers’ pitchers proved that they have what it takes to win. The Athletics also have good pitchers, in Zito, Haren, Esteban Loaiza, and Rich Harden, who will matchup well against the Tigers’ starters. Both bullpens are strong and both lineups are made up of consistent hitters, like the Athletics’ Thomas, Mark Kotsay and Eric Chavez, and the Tigers’ Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, and Craig Monroe. The two teams are even, both strong in all areas of the game. The Tigers momentum and depth of pitching will lead them to the series win, in an evenly played series that goes seven games.

Prediction: Detroit Tigers in seven games.

Over in the NL, the Cardinals and Mets are both teams missing key starting pitchers, the Mets’ Pedro Martinez and the Cards’ Mark Mulder. Both Mulder and Martinez were brought in by their teams to lead them in series like this, but both are injured. The Mets’ are also missing playoff veteran Orlando Hernandez. The Cardinals have a strong lineup, with rookie Chris Duncan, the son of Cardinals’ pitching coach Dave Duncan, who hit 20 home runs in the second half of the season, MVP candidate Pujols who is one of the top three hitters in the league, and veterans Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen, but Rolen and Edmonds have struggled in the playoffs this year and in the past. However, Chris Carpenter is the best starting pitcher in the National League, and can carry the Cardinals to at least two wins. But the bullpen is inexperienced and the rotation is shaky after Carpenter.

The Mets pitching is no better than the Cardinals, but the lineup is much stronger. Reyes is one of the top leadoff hitters in the league and Wright, Delgado, and Beltran can hit for power and drive in Reyes and Paul LoDuca, who both get on base consistently. The Mets will rely on veteran starter Tom Glavine and closer Billy Wagner to lead the pitching staff, but will need the hitting to stay hot to win. In the end, the Mets’ hitters will lead them to victory, while the Cardinals will pick up two wins from Carpenter, who will establish himself as one of the game’s best.

Prediction: New York Mets in six games.