A.J. Burnett Lights Up Phils in Game 2

Jayson Werth should really do something about that squirrel hanging out on his chin. Just a thought. The New York Yankees’ bats finally woke up for Game 2 of the World Series Thursday night with a 3-1 win over the reigning world champion Philadelphia Phillies.

Continue reading this story at Sports Untapped. Have a safe and fun Halloween everyone! Enjoy the World Series, see ya Monday.

Derek Jeter: Biggest Loser

New York Yankees shortstop and 2009 Roberto Clemente Award recipient Derek Jeter appeared on NBC's The Biggest Loser this week in an effort to pump up the contestants.

We'll see who the biggest losers are after Game 2 of the World Series at 7:57pm ET tonight, where old schooler Pedro Martinez takes the hill for the Philadelphia Phillies against Yankees righty A.J. Burnett. Enjoy!

Cliff Lee Once Slammed a Revolving Door

Cliff Lee was down-right filthy Wednesday night during his Philadelphia Phillies’ 6-1 victory in Game 1 of the World Series. The placid southpaw, donning a nasty spike curveball, lasted all night long. He calmly allowed six hits and just one run, which didn’t even appear in the box score until a Jimmy Rollins throwing error allowed Derek Jeter to cross the plate with one out in the ninth inning.

Continue reading and comment on this story at Sports Untapped.

Yank on This

This video was shared with us today by NBC Philadelphia. We chuckled.

Enjoy Game 1 tonight, we'll be cruising 310 to Joba's liveblog actionfest.

Mark McGwire: Back in the Game

For those of you who assumed Mark McGwire was gone from baseball for good, think again.

Though he hasn't been even the smallest percentage as irritating as former Bash Brother Jose Canseco, McGwire has been accused of being a big, fat, dirty cheater and also, a liar liar pants on fire.

J-Roll is a Confident Man

Jimmy Rollins is either trying to get a rise out of the New York Yankees and their fans, or he's just exercising his psychic powers. Also, he believes Elton John is the greatest switch-hitter of all time.

"Of course we’re going to win," he said on The Jay Leno Show Monday night. "If we’re nice we’ll let it go six, but I’m thinking five. Close it out at home."

Well, that was nice to give the Yanks a game.

Game 1 of Cheesesteak vs. Cheesecake airs Wednesday night at 7:57pm ET on FOX. Enjoy your Buck/McCarver dosage... or just drink a lot.

[Philly Blurbs] | [The 700 Level] | [Mornin' Paper]

Philadelphia Phillies: Destiny to Dynasty?

The reigning World Champion Philadelphia Phillies’ roster is stacked from top to bottom. They own the arms, they boast the lumber, and their defense isn’t too shabby either. They possess all the swagger a World Series team should have.

Continue reading and comment on this story at SportsUntapped. Seriously, you should go check it out, the site just launched today (yay!) and I'll be over there going on and on about the rest of the sports world when baseball season ends... as if there's an offseason.

There's Always Next Year, Angels Fans

Instead of recapturing the glorious moments of the New York Yankees' 40th American League pennant and first World Series berth since 2003 (like the above photo of Nick Swisher doing what he does best) we're going to dwell on the sadness of every broken-hearted Los Angeles Angels fan in the world.

Devastating photo montage time right... now. As always, click to enlarge.

Nick Swisher Needs a Slump Buster, Pronto

Regardless of his horrendous postseason play, Nick Swisher is still upbeat, according to AP sports writer Jay Cohen, who apparently witnessed him frolicking into the clubhouse Friday, donning a chipper smile.

Swisher is hitless over his last 11 at-bats, failing to successfully reach base since his leadoff single off Los Angeles Angels starter Joe Saunders in the seventh inning of Game 2. Nevermind extra base hits, which he hasn't seen since an RBI double in the opener of the ALDS against the Minnesota Twins.

ALCS: That Game Was Ridiculous

Holy smokes, now that was a poorly-managed ball game.

The Los Angeles Angels kept their World Series dreams alive for one more night, coming away with a 7-6 win over the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the ALCS Thursday night in what turned out to be a helluva baseball game.

Phillies, Green Man Return to World Series

Congratulations to the reigning champion Philadelphia Phillies, who officially punched their ticket to a second straight World Series after winning the National League pennant with a 10-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday night.

Five pitchers followed a shaky Cole Hamels for 4.2 impressive innings of relief, with Chad Durbin earning the win by retiring all four batters he faced.

CC Sabathia, Yankees Clobber Angels in Game 4

Working on three days rest, CC Sabathia munched his way through the Los Angeles Angels lineup for eight innings, allowing just one run on five hits, and striking out five after 101 pitches to aid his New York Yankees in their 10-1 victory.

Alex Rodriguez continued his outstanding postseason play with his third longball in as many games, falling a triple short of the cycle in his 3-for-4 night. Scoring three runs, he called his stolen base "a little bit of a miracle" in a post-game interview with Tiny Ken Rosenthal, saying that this was the best he's felt all year.

Mariano Rivera Spitball? No Way Says MLB

A Youtube video has surfaced today which appears to show Mariano Rivera shiftily spitting on the baseball before a pitch. Major League Baseball of course denies the allegations, finding no reason to discipline the New York Yankees closer.

Kids, a spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of saliva, petroleum jelly, or some other foreign substance, according the almighty Wikipedia.

So did he spit on the ball or not? It's hard to say, though the trajectory of the spit certainly seems to be headed directly for the ball.

J-Roll Comes Up Huge for Reigning Champs

With two gone in the ninth and his team down by a run, Jimmy Rollins lined a 99 mph fastball from All-Star closer Jonathan Broxton for a two-run double to help his Philadelphia Phillies rally over the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 Monday night.

Make that a 3-1 lead in the NLCS for the Phightin Phils, who now need just one win to punch their World Series ticket.

Welcome to the Cliff Lee Show

Total domination. That's what we like to call Cliff Lee's eight-inning performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers Sunday night. Reigning AL Cy Young Award winner struck out ten batters and allowed just three hits in all while facing only two batters over the minimum. This gives Lee a 2-0 postseason record and a minuscule 0.74 ERA over three playoff starts. Outstanding to say the least.

Meanwhile, sluggers Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth provided the big bats early on, helping the Philadelphia Phillies crush their NLCS rivals 11-0 for a 2-1 series lead. They struck quickly, gaining a 6-0 lead by the second inning and chasing Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda off the hill after he failed to get more than four outs... six hits and six runs later.

Happy Trails, Kenji Johjima

Kenji Johjima, the first ever Japanese-born catcher to play in the big leagues, has decided to abandon the final two years of his three-year, $33 million contract with the Seattle Mariners in favor of heading back home to Japan.

The 33-year-old backstop isn't calling it quits, however. He's decided to finish his career in his home land.

"After lots of very deep thought and deliberation, I have decided to return home to resume my career in Japan," Johjima said Monday. "I have had a wonderful experience competing at the Major League level. The last four years have been extraordinary, with great teammates and great coaches. I will always be indebted to the Mariners organization for giving me the opportunity to follow my dream. This was a very difficult decision, both professionally and personally. I feel now is the time to go home, while I still can perform at a very high level."

The Angels Have Forgotten How to Play Baseball

The Los Angeles Angels are struggling with the fundamentals of baseball, and in turn look like a bunch of spazzes out there. Torii Hunter related his feelings best:

I think if I let my hair grow out I would have grays everywhere.... I got this feeling, man. We go home, it’s going to be a different scene. Definitely.

Stephen Strasburg: Flamethrower

Washington Nationals uneconomical prospect Stephen Strasburg's first professional pitch hit 99 mph to kick off 3.1 scoreless innings in his Arizona Fall League debut Friday night.

The 21-year-old righty, who signed a ridiculous, record $15.1 million, four-year deal with the Nationals after the June draft, surrendered just two base hits and a walk, fanning two for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in their 7-4 win over the Scotsdale Scorpions.

"I love to go out there and compete, and it was great to be able to do that," Strasburg said.

He threw just 50 pitches --32 for strikes -- a limit set by the Nats... they don't want to break him, I guess. He's expected make five starts for the Dogs, with his next coming on Thursday.

[MLB.com] | [Project Prospect] | [AZ Hardball]

Captain Cheeseburger Dominates Halos

Big lefty CC Sabathia tossed eight fantastic innings Friday night for the New York Yankees, four-hitting the Los Angeles Angels to win his second straight postseason start with a 4-1 victory in the ALCS opener.

Meanwhile, the Halos played some of the sloppiest ball we've ever seen from that club. They made three errors altogether, making way for two unearned runs -- the most startling was a single which eight-time gold-glove centerfielder Torii Hunter let roll right by him.

Alex Rodriguez continued his clutch playoff hitting with a one-out sacrifice fly for his seventh RBI of the postseason, giving the Yanks the lead. Hideki Matsui followed that up with a short pop-up between third baseman Chone Figgins and shortstop Erick Aybar, but the two failed to communicate and the ball dropped to the ground while Johnny Damon rounded third to score. Angels starter John Lackey? Not impressed.

2009: The Year of the Comeback

I'm not sure how many more late-inning comebacks I can take. But man, they sure are exciting.

The Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for two runs in the eighth inning of Game 2 of the NLCS against the reigning Champion Philadelphia Phillies, coming away with a 2-1 victory Friday night.

There's Always Next Year...

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said it best,

"We got beat, so you take the heat."

His team was swept out of the NLDS by the Los Angeles Dodgers in dramatic fashion, with a 5-1 win in Game 3 Saturday night. That entire series was absolutely ridiculous.

There's Always Next Year, Twins Fans

Alex Rodriguez has erased almost all notions of his unclutchness in October, as the New York Yankees swept the Minnesota Twins in their ALDS with a 4-1 Game 3 win on Sunday at the now-extinct Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

The Twins fought an incredible uphill battle to get to the postseason, winning 17 of their final 21 games to force and win a tiebreaker against the division rival Detroit Tigers. However, not even Metrodome magic could stop the Yankees in their quest for a World Series title.

There's Always Next Year, Sox Fans

Well, I pretty much needed a good 24 hours after my team was eliminated from the playoffs to regroup. You'll be happy to know I've moved on and it's time to make fun of the losers. Yes, even my Twins.

The Los Angeles Angels rallied from a 5-1 deficit in Game 3 of their ALDS against the Boston Red Sox to come out on top with the sweep. Big hits, amazing catches and fantastic pitching -- not to mention the memory of fallen teammate Nick Adenhart -- has carried this team through the postseason thus far.

Two Games You Should Probably Watch Tonight

AL East Champs vs. AL Central Champs

The Minnesota Twins will look to Nick Blackburn and his zero playoff experience tonight while the New York Yankees will put A.J. Burnett (also a postseason rookie) on his home hill for Game 2 of their American League Division Series at 6:07pm ET. Blackburn sported a 4.03 ERA over 33 starts this year and Burnett went 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA.

Fun facts: The Yanks lead the series 1-0 after their 7-2 victory on Tuesday. Reggie Jackson is throwing out the first pitch. Also, it might rain.

Wild Card! vs. AL West Champs

Big game pitcher Josh Beckett will take the hill for the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of their ALDS against Los Angeles Angels' righty Jered Weaver, who pitched two scoreless innings for the victory in Game 3 last year. Weaver went 16-8 with a 3.75 ERA this year and Beckett went 17-6 with a 3.86 ERA.

Fun facts: Big Papi struck our three times in Game one, which the Angels won 5-0 last night. They now lead the series 1-0... obviously. The Green Monster has not attacked C.B. Bucknor. Yet. We'll see after tonight's game begins at 9:37pm ET.

Dodgers Overcome Wolf's Craptastic Start

Chris Carpenter wasn't his average badass self on Wednesday. Neither was perennial All-Star Albert Pujols, who went 0-for-3.

Carpenter got off to a slow start in his St. Louis Cardinals' 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving up runs in three of his five innings. He issued four walks and needed 105 pitches to get just 15 outs. Yikes.

Matt Kemp homered for LA, Rafael Furcal enjoyed a three-hit evening with a run scored and one driven in, and the bullpen overcame Randy Wolf's short start.

Both teams stranded 30 runners combined, which is a division series record. They also took a grueling 3 hours and 54 minutes to complete play. Also a ridiculous record.

Yankees Beat Twins in Game One

The New York Yankees played and won their first postseason game at the new Yankee Stadium Wednesday night, coming away with an impressive 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins in Game 1 of their ALDS.

CC Sabathia ate his way through the Twins lineup, tossing 6.2 solid innings and allowing two runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts to walk away with a 1.35 ERA. The Twins had a 2-0 lead heading into the third inning after a clutch two-out hit from Michael Cuddyer before MVP candidate Joe Mauer scored on a passed ball. That's all the scoring they did.

Cliff Lee is an Animal

The largest crowd ever to cram themselves into Citizens Bank Park went absolutely crazy as Cliff Lee, making his postseason debut, went all nine innings in the Philadelphia Phillies' 5-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies in Game 1 of their NLDS.

Lee pretty much dominated, tossing a six-hitter to help the Phils begin defending their World Series title. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner fanned five and walked no one, retiring 16 straight batters until Garrett Atkins blew it with a double in the seventh. Lee then lost grip of his shutout when Troy Tulowitzki doubled in a run with two gone in the ninth.

Game 2 is all set for Thursday with last year's NLCS and World Series MVP Cole Hamels taking the hill to face Rockies righty Aaron Cook. Yay playoffs!

[AP] | [Section 330] | [Blogging Baseball]

Finally! The Post Season is Decided!

After 12 heart attack-inducing innings in game 163, the AL Central FINALLY has a champion. The Minnesota Twins, who were seven games back in early September, battled until the very end to take down the Detroit Tigers in a tie-breaker game. Leading up to this game, the Detroit Tigers had one of the most epic collapses in the history of the game, while the Twins had gone 16-4 in their last 20 games. This is the second year in a row that the Twins have had to force the tiebreaker game 163 to decide the division (they played the Chicago White Sox and lost 1-0 in 2008), and they weren't going down without a fight this time.

Down 3-0 early on in the game, the Twins clawed their way back in it, in their typical piranha style. The game raged on, back and forth, until finally in the 12th, Casilla got a base hit that allowed Carlos Go-Go-Gomez to slide across home with the game winning run. Poor Jim Leyland, they don't allow smoking at the Dome, so he was probably REALLY pissed that he had no way to calm down between innings.

This ensures that the Metrodome will still be hosting baseball past the 'Final Game' that was to have happened two days ago. Apparently, this horrible building refuses to die. So, we'll have at least one more game of garbage bags for an outfield, lost balls in the ceiling, and deafening noise. The (exhausted) Twins will be meeting with the Yankees tomorrow afternoon to face CC Sabathia.

Also, in typical BLB fashion, we have to bring up our favorite Twin, Man Muscles himself, the probable MVP for the season, the baby Jesus incarnate, Joe Mauer. There was still talk (mostly by ignorant people who only follow the Yankees) that Derek Jeter still deserved to be MVP. Well, unless he had gone 0-17 tonight to change things, he is now a 3-time batting champ, is first in on base percentage, slugging, and bad-assery. Congratulations, Joey! And congratulations to the rest of the team on beating the odds and becoming the AL Central Champions!

162 Games Just Aren't Enough

One year after losing a 1-0 heart-breaker to the Chicago White Sox in a one-game playoff, the Minnesota Twins will host the Detroit Tigers Tuesday in a tiebreaker for the American League Central title. The winner will head to the playoffs and the loser will head back to Detroit home.

This marks the second year in a row that the Twins have needed a 163rd game to end their season, a first for baseball.

Mama Needs a New Pair of Shoes

We're going to go ahead and use our half-assed playoff preview to hopefully help you earn some dough this playoff season. We all need some fast cash, right? So why not use a sportsbook to bet on baseball this postseason?

The 91-68 Colorado Rockies punched their ticket to October baseball when they clinched the National League Wild Card on Thursday, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 9-2 at home. They still have a shot at the NL West crown if they manage to sweep the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. Umm... don't put your money on that series. Mama's not feelin' it.

Joe Mauer's Not a Cheater Lalalalalala

Joe Mauer was tipping pitches to Jason Kubel? Yeah, I'm a total homer when it comes to Man Muscles, so I could give a crap whether people think he's a cheater or not. In fact, he could do some pretty scandalous things (aside from steroid use) and I would still love him to pieces.

Holy Crap, Ricky Nolasco

Florida Marlins' pitcher Ricky Nolasco was lights-out ridiculous Wednesday night in his team's 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

The 26-year-old righty struck out nine straight batters and fanned 16 in all, setting a Marlins record. No one has struck out that many players period in one game since Johan Santana punched out 17 Texas Rangers in August of 2007 for the Minnesota Twins. I was lucky enough to watch that go down behind home plate in a drunken fury.

Back to Nolasco and his sudden badassery. His nine consecutive K's in a single game may be a record for the Fish, but it falls just one short of the big league mark set by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver for the New York Mets on April 22, 1970. Seaver struck out 19 that day against San Diego at Shea Stadium, including his final ten in a 2-1 pitcher's dual.