MLB Playoff Preview

By SportsTicker

Colorado v. Philadephia
The Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies made a mad dash to the finish in the regular season. Now, the two red-hot clubs will have to face each other in the playoffs. After winning the National League East Division title on the season's final day, the Phillies will face off against the wild-card winning Rockies in the opener of their best-of-five NL Division Series matchup on Wednesday. Trailing by seven games in the NL East with just 17 left, Philadelphia embarked on one of the most remarkable stretch runs in baseball history en route to its first postseason appearance since 1993. "I think it's going to be very exciting, just trying to go out there and play, you know," Phillies lefthander Cole Hamels said. "I think getting there is a lot bigger baggage than right now at the moment, because everybody is stressing out not getting there in 14 years, nobody thought about what you would do on Day One of the postseason just because they wanted to get there." The Phillies won 13 of their final 17 contests - aided by the crumbling New York Mets, who blew a seemingly insurmountable late-season advantage. On the campaign's final day, Philadelphia topped the Washington Nationals, and New York was routed by the Florida Marlins. But in the whirlwind NL, it was not the only remarkable story. The Rockies finished the regular season with a similar flourish but needed a one-game playoff victory against the San Diego Padres to enter the postseason fray for the first time since 1995. But Colorado's tiebreaker victory certainly did not come easy. The Rockies pulled out a wild, 9-8, triumph in 13 innings - scoring three runs off future Hall-of-Fame closer Trevor Hoffman in the final frame. Both teams look to take advantage of the wide-open NL bracket, sending their respective aces to the mound in Wednesday's series opener. The hurlers hope to reign in two explosive offenses. "The similarities (between the teams) are numerous," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "There's a lot of common fabric I found between the clubs when you just start breaking them down. You look at the journeys that each club has taken respectively." Rockies lefthander Jeff Francis (17-9, 4.22 ERA) has not been able to hold down the Phillies in his career. Francis is 1-1 with an inflated 8.79 ERA in three career starts. "It's no secret they have got a good offense," Francis said. "I think we match up pretty well with them offensively. It's just a matter of me going out and executing. I think the two games I faced them this year, I didn't execute very well. I walked a lot of guys and left some balls out there." He will be opposed by fellow lefthander Hamels (15-5, 3.39), who tossed eight scoreless innings in 6-0 win over the Nationals on Friday - a must-win for the Phillies. Hamels has never faced the Rockies in his short career. "I think sometimes seeing a team can always help you, but I think sometimes it can hurt you to the point where you might not have seen them enough or you get a little overconfident with a certain pitch and then they make the adjustment," Francis said. "I think with not facing them, it can help with that sort of surprise."

Chicago v. Arizona
While the Phillies and Rockies made an improbable journey to the postseason, it also will be a surprise appearance for the Arizona Diamondbacks (90-72), who secured the best record in the NL. "It seems like no a matter what we've done this year we've been kind of the underdog, so that's nothing new for us," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "I think people thought we were going to go away as the season went along." One of the youngest teams in baseball, the Diamondbacks will send reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb to the hill against the NL Central champion Chicago Cubs in the league's other best-of-five Division Series. Webb has never pitched in the postseason but, according to Melvin, it doesn't matter when his ace righthander takes the mound. "His demeanor, his stuff, he plays pretty well everywhere," Melvin said. "You know, a pretty composed guy. Can't really tell whether or not things are bothering him out there or not, and he's always got the sinker to roll back to. "I think he's pitched in enough big games, albeit it hasn't been in the postseason, but has a lot of confidence whenever he takes the ball." It will be another postseason chance for Chicago, which has not won the World Series since 1908 - the longest drought in baseball - and not reached the Fall Classic since 1945. Despite that hanging over his club's collective head, Cubs manager Lou Piniella takes a more positive outlook. "We're going to come in here and play," he said. "We played Arizona six times this year. They've beaten us four, we've beaten them twice, but they've all been really competitive games. So, we really respect the Diamondbacks. "Our team, you know, we've had a really good second half, and we're coming here with a very positive attitude and we're going to play the best we can." The Cubs last reached the playoffs in 2003. In the NL Championship Series that season, Chicago imploded - blowing a 3-1 series lead, highlighted by an eight-run eighth inning meltdown in Game Six against the Florida Marlins. It will look to turn around that luck behind Carlos Zambrano (18-13, 3.95 ERA), who has been inconsistent this campaign. But the righthander has pitched well heading into the playoffs, going 4-1 with a 1.67 ERA in his final five starts of the campaign. In the playoffs for the second time, Zambrano believes that everything will be different this time around. "I've faced a lot of batters since (2003)," he said. "Just the fact that I have more confidence in myself and more pitches, also. Back in that day, back in (2003), I didn't have cutters, I didn't have a slow slider and a fast slider."

LA Angels of Anaheim v. Boston
While the Cubs attempt to turn around their postseason fortunes, the Boston Red Sox have already broken down that barrier. They will make their second trip to the postseason since their historic title run in 2004 and take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a best-of-five American League Division Series matchup. Boston, which was atop the AL East Division for most of the season, struggled a bit down the stretch but secured its first division crown in more than a decade. The Red Sox will start the series behind ace Josh Beckett (20-7, 3.27), who is 2-2 with a 2.11 ERA in six appearances in the postseason - all with the Marlins in 2003. He was the major leagues' lone 20-game winner. "I've got to go out and execute pitches, just like I did in 2003," Beckett said. "Just like I did throughout this season. I don't think anything's going to change because - they're certainly not going to be a different lineup because of what I did in 2003. So, I don't think it has any bearing whatsoever on what's going on now." The Angels will counter John Lackey (19-9, 3.01), who won Game Seven of the 2002 World Series against the San Francisco Giants on three days' rest. The hard-throwing righthander is 2-0 with a 2.42 ERA in five appearances - three starts - in his postseason career. "I think it's definitely something I can draw upon (Game Seven in 2002)," Lackey said. "Pitched in a few playoff games, that, obviously, being the biggest one. My mindset in that game, I was a rookie, I was coming up with a lot of veterans. I was just hoping to contribute at that point." Boston swept Anaheim in the Division Series in 2004 en route to hoisting the championship trophy.