NLDS

I promised i would be back today with a more complete write-up on the Diamondbacks NLDS sweep of the Chicago Cubs last night, and here I am. It's really a struggle though, to figure out how and what to write about this team, as it is a struggle to explain how this team keeps winning games. The Diamondbacks defy all traditional measures of statistically judging how a team is performing, but all they do is win. After the series sweep of the Cubs, the Dbacks showed the entire country exactly why you throw out the numbers when it comes to the Dbacks.

Chris Young got the game started on the very first pitch, serving a Rich Hill fastball to the rabid Wrigley Field Bleacher crowd in left field, immediately taking the Cubs fans out of the game and setting the tone for the game. In a must win situation for the Cubs, for Young to homer on the first pitch was incredibly deflating. The timing of it was perfect if you're a Dbacks fan, and terrible if you're a Cubs fan. And really, in that one pitch and one moment, was a microcosm of the entire series. The Cubs showed an amazing ineptitude to come up big when they needed to, while the Dbacks absolutely thrived in those situations.

Livan Hernandez was in trouble all night long, not getting a 1-2-3 inning until the 6th, his last. However, he was always able to work himself out of it. Three times in the first five innings Hernandez induced inning ending double plays, including one in a bases loaded situation. Each time, the Cubs fans at Wrigley Field were ready to explode at any hint of success at the plate; each time the Dbacks make the key pitch or defensive play. Their sense of timing was epic, their fearlessness of the situation grandiose. For all the talk about how young these Dbacks were, maybe their really were too young to know any better. Ignorance is bliss.

Or maybe, just maybe, Josh Byrnes and the rest of the Arizona front office knew exactly what they were doing when they put this team together, with these guys, in this situation. There was Stephen Drew, who struggled all year long at the plate, getting 7 hits, with one triple, one double, and two home runs. There was Chris Young, the first rookie in MLB history to have 30 home runs and 25+ stolen bases, continuing his season into the playoffs with two home runs, both at critical times. There were Mark Reynolds and Drew, absolutely locking down the left side of the infield on defense throughout the series. And then there was Justin Upton, the just-turned-20 phenom who started the year in Single A ball. In just two games, he had three hits, an RBI, a stolen base, scored 2 runs, and drew three walks. For a rookie in his first postseason experience, Upton showed maturity beyond his years.

And i still have not gotten to the pitching staff. I'm not sure what else i can say at this point. They were lights out, starting with Webb in Game 1 showing why he won the Cy Young last year. The Cubs scored just 6 runs in the entire series, including both Game 1 and the decisive Game 3 in which they put up just one run in each. The Dbacks bullpen had an ERA of .108. Chicago posted a team Batting Average of .194 for the series, including .87 with runners in scoring position. They struck out 35 times, more than 11 a game. They stranded 9 runners in each of the three games. They had just one home run, from a team who was known as a power team. The Cubs top four hitters went 9-36, with 14 K's and just one RBI between them.

I could go on and on, but again, with the Dbacks the numbers don't mean anything. They just win. They just win. And as Eric Byrnes put it after the series clinching win, "We won this series. The Cubs didn't lose it."

I couldn't agree more.

NL West

So, I could be wrong because, you know, i'm a bit biased and all, but umm, aren't the two teams in the NLCS from the NL West? And umm, didn't one of those teams finish with the best record in the NL? I mean, i could be wrong, but i really think the two best teams in the NL (according to record, playoffs, and everything else) came from the NL West. Or, the NL Worst as it was called last year.

Seems like the left coast is making some strides in the world of baseball...

NLCS!

That was awesome! Back tomorrow with a more detailed post, but the Dbacks are through to the next round! A complete sweep of the Cubs, who saw that coming?

For a team that had no one outside of Phoenix believing in them, the Dbacks threw up a fantastic series. Great job, way to go, and bring on the Rockies! Go Dbacks!

2-0 Dbacks

What a fantastic game to go to. The Dbacks go down early, then respond a half inning later with a three-run shot by Chris Young into the left field stands. And the Dbacks never looked back. And even though all four runs scored by the Cubs were credited to Doug Davis, the last two should have been retired on a double play except Augie Ojeda botched the catch on 2nd base. Even so, Double D threw a great game, and really limited the Cubs. And once again the bullpen was stellar, allowing no runs in the last three innings. Chicago stranded 9 runners, the same amount they stranded the night before. That won't win you many baseball games.

Speaking of Augie Ojeda... where did this guy come from? Since replacing Orlando Hudson when he went down with a thumb injury, Ojeda has done nothing but lead the team in Batting Average, going something ridiculous like .360 to finish the regular season, and .571 through two games of the playoffs. The guy is raking right now, and his play on the field (with the notable exception listed above) has been stellar. That botched double play was his FIRST ERROR OF THE SEASON. Can you say impressive?

And the young kids keep on impressing. Justin Upton, at just 20 years old and playing in his first playoff game, had a single and two walks in four at-bats. Chris Young went yard (again), Mark Reynolds had a good day defensively if not terribly impressive at the plate, and Stephen Drew was once again hot. For a guy who hit .230 in the regular season, he has been on fire the last two weeks. I guess if you're going to pick a time to get hot, it might as well be the last two weeks of the regular season and the playoffs.

So, the Dbacks head to Chicago with a 2-0 series lead in this Best Of 5. They need only to get one win in two tries at Wrigley to end the series, or if not bring it back home for a Game 5 with Brandon Webb on the mound. Either way, i think they're good. But i think they will find a way to finish it in Chicago over the weekend...

Game 2

Game 2 between the Dbacks and Cubs kicks off tonight at 7:00pm Pacific time at Chase Field in Phoenix. I will be at this game, cheering loudly and unabashedly for the Dbacks. For those of you back home in the Midwest, bite me. The Dbacks are my team, and have been since i moved here more than a year ago. I rooted for them last year when they finished 10 games under .500, and i'm rooting for them this year as they finished with the best record in the NL. I had partial season tickets, and went to more baseball games this year than in my whole life combined. So no, i feel no obligation to be rooting for the Cubs.

Now that i have that off my chest, i'm a little nervous about the matchup tonight. Doug Davis has been stellar most of the 2nd half, but has had a few pretty bad games thrown in there. Hopefully he gets off to a good start in the 1st and carries it through. I do believe, either way, that the Dbacks will need to score more than the three runs they scored last night in order to win tonight. Just a hunch.

Anyway, i'm off. Have fun watching the game tonight, and Go Dbacks!

1-0 Dbacks

That's the series score, not the game score.

Two things you need to know, that's it: Great starting pitching, from both sides. Brandon Webb and Carlos Zambrano were lights out. Period. Unfortunately for the Cubs, their bullpen let them down (again), and the Dbacks bullpen was fantastic (again).

Anybody, anytime: The Dbacks got their two biggest hits, the two solo home runs, from a guy who was called up last year, has been shuffled all over the lineup, and has struggled ALL YEAR LONG (Stephen Drew), and a guy who started the year in AA ball and who strikes out a third of the time he's up to bat (Mark Reynolds).

Great performance by Brandon Lyon and Jose' Valverde. 1 win down, 10 to go. Go Dbacks!

NLDS

Cubs v. Dbacks. Despite the fact that the Dbacks have the best record in the NL, despite the fact that the Dbacks have the best pitcher remaining in the NL (and the reigning Cy Young winner), despite the fact the Dbacks won the season series against the Cubs 4-2, and despite the fact the Dbacks were the first team in the NL to clinch a playoff spot, the Cubs are favored.

Go figure.

Fuck 'em, Dbacks haven't been expected to do anything all year long. Anybody, anytime...