If two out of three ain’t bad, what’s two out of four?
With all due apologies to all the Meat Loaf fans (if there are any of you with us here at Ramble On), we’d like to point out that we weren’t all that far off in our previous predictions that we made for the Major League Baseball playoffs. We’re perfect in the National League – we had the Phillies sweeping the Reds and the Giants outlasting the Braves in four games – and we think that makes up for our hiccups in the American League. It’s not our fault that the wins choked yet again and couldn’t take care of the vulnerable Yankees or that the Rays’ fans were far more gutless than we ever gave them credit for being.
With all of that said, let’s take a stab at giving you a World Series preview. Here are our predictions for the League Championship Series, which start tonight when New York visits Texas.
Rangers vs. Yankees
We still think that the Yankees have some big question marks on their pitching staff. Will Phil Hughes be that dominant in back-to-back outings? Can New York win a game where C.C. Sabathia is so average? Can Andy Pettitte’s 66-year-old groin hold up through two more starts? Will Kerry Wood or David Robertson explode before Mariano Rivera can save the day?
We really don’t think so. C.J. Wilson and Cliff Lee are the sort of lefthanded pitchers who the Yankees built their dynasty on, guys with the makeup to thrive even in Yankee Stadium. Josh Hamilton (a sub-.200 effort against Tampa) can’t be that bad again, Nelson Cruz is pounding the ball and the Rangers have that look of a team that has destiny on its side. We think it might be their turn to sneak past New York and try to write some postseason history.
PREDICTION: Rangers in seven games
Phillies vs. Giants
Tim Lincecum turned in one of the best postseason performances that we’ve ever seen when he shut out Atlanta and struck out 14 to set the tone for the series in Game 1. We like Matt Cain to bounce back from an average outing and Madison Bumgarner to throw well again. San Francisco’s lineup is full of grinders who won’t make it easy for Philadelphia’s pitching staff.
Unfortunately for the Giants, they’re running into one of the best teams that we’ve seen in a while. We wouldn’t be shocked to see Roy Halladay throw another no-hitter – the Giants’ lineup is far worse than the Reds’ crew that he made history against – and Cole Hamels’ clinching shutout was a thing of beauty. Toss in a lineup that is bound to break out at any moment and you have the team that we tabbed as the favorites from the beginning of this postseason. We don’t see the Phillies’ ride stopping here.
PREDICTION: Phillies in five games
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