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Friday, September 30, 2011
BASEBALL
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L AWRENCE J OURNAL -W ORLD
ALDS
Rays roll into playoff rematch at Rangers By Stephen Hawkins Associated Press Sports Writer
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — The Texas Rangers had to win their last six games in the regular season to earn homefield advantage in the first round of the playoffs this time. Just to get into the postseason, Tampa Bay had to overcome a nine-game deficit in the final month and a sevenrun deficit in the final game. “Right now there’s nothing that we don’t think that we can’t do. ... We believe,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said Thursday, a day before the opener of a rematch of last year’s AL division series. “We definitely have a strong belief system going on right now, regardless of how we can look at these other teams that we have to play, and maybe there’s areas that they appear to be stronger than we, and probably are.” A tired Tampa Bay team arrived last Thursday at Rangers Ballpark, where the defending AL champion Rangers were already working out after getting to fly home from Los Angeles rather than having to go to Yankee Stadium. When the Rangers and Rays met in the playoffs last season, the visiting team won every game. That’s the only time that has ever happened in the major leagues.
“You’re talking about two teams that don’t really care where they play,” Rangers designated hitter Michael Young said. “It should be a fun series. You’re talking about two teams that are playing extremely well heading into the postseason.” Game 1 is Friday, when C.J. Wilson (16-7) pitches for the Rangers, who have won 14 of 16 games and set a franchise record with 96 victories. Wilson has known for more than a week that he’d be starting the playoff opener, and fellow left-hander Derek Holland (16-5) is set to start Game 2 on Saturday night. Maddon, whose Rays went 16-8 while having to play every day like an elimination game for the past few weeks, said coaches were still discussing their playoff rotation. While the only question for the Rangers over the last few days was whether they’d hold off Detroit for the American League’s secondbest mark, Tampa Bay finally clinched its playoff spot in a wild and exhilarating end to the regular season. Evan Longoria homered leading off the 12th inning late, late Wednesday night against the Yankees only minutes after Boston had given up two ninth-inning runs in a loss at Baltimore. Johnny Damon, one of the many different faces for these Rays after they purged
AL GLANCE American League Division Series
(Best-of-5; x-if necessary) All games televised by TBS New York vs. Detroit Friday, Sept. 30: Detroit (Verlander 24-5) at New York (Sabathia 19-8), 7:37 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1: Detroit (Fister 11-13) at New York (Nova 16-4), 7:37 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3: New York (Garcia 12-8) at Detroit, 7:37 p.m. x-Tuesday, Oct. 4: New York at Detroit, TBA x-Thursday, Oct. 6: Detroit at New York, TBA Texas vs. Tampa Bay Friday, Sept. 30: Tampa Bay (Moore 1-0) at Texas (C.Wilson 16-7), 4:07 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1: Tampa Bay (Shields 16-12) at Texas (D.Holland 16-5), 6:07 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3: Texas at Tampa Bay, 4:07 p.m. x-Tuesday, Oct. 4: Texas at Tampa Bay, TBA x-Thursday, Oct. 6: Tampa Bay at Texas, TBA
their highest-priced players last winter, said everyone was shocked at some point Wednesday night and hoping for Baltimore to force at least a wild-card playoff game for the Rays against Boston. There was no need for an extra game Thursday, and the Rays didn’t have an onfield workout after getting to Texas.
Chris O’Meara /AP Photo
TAMPA BAY RAYS, FROM LEFT, SEAN RODRIGUEZ, EVAN LONGORIA, AND ELLIOT JOHNSON CELEBRATE clinching the AL wild card Thursday in St. Petersburg, Fla. The new-look Rays will take on the Texas Rangers in a rematch of last year’s playoffs. Damon was also part of the 2004 Red Sox team that overcame a 3-0 deficit to the Yankees in the AL championship series and then won the World Series in a fourgame sweep. “I actually feel like this was a better comeback,” Damon said. The Rays were nine games back in the wild-card stand-
ings Sept. 3. They caught up with Boston this week, and finally passed the Red Sox in a matter of minutes on the final night of the regular season. Among the players gone from last year’s Tampa Bay team are Jason Bartlett, who hit .400 in the AL division series, Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford, now with the Red
Sox. The departed pitchers include starter Matt Garza, closer Rafael Soriano and relievers Grant Balfour and Joaquin Benoit. The most significant change for the Rangers since a year ago is not having Cliff Lee, who left in free agency to return to Philadelphia after helping Texas get to its first World Series.
NLDS
ALDS
Cardinals regroup before facing Phillies
Yankees, Tigers meet in prime pitching match-up
By R.B. Fallstrom Associated Press Sports Writer
NL GLANCE
National League ST. LOUIS — As the eupho- Division Series ria of winning the National (Best-of-5; x-if necessary) League wild card wore off in All games televised by TBS the wee hours, the St. Louis Philadelphia vs. St. Louis Cardinals collectively took a Saturday, Oct. 1: St. Louis (Lohse deep breath. 14-8) at Philadelphia (Halladay Savoring a celebration that 19-6), 4:07 p.m. seemed more spontaneous Sunday, Oct. 2: St. Louis (J.Garcia at Philadelphia (Cl.Lee 17-8), than scripted, they’ll try to 13-7) 7:07 p.m. take the September groove Tuesday, Oct. 4: Philadelphia at no one thought they had in St. Louis, TBA x-Wednesday, Oct. 5: Philadelphia them into October. St. Louis trailed Atlanta by at St. Louis, TBA x-Friday, Oct. 7: St. Louis at 101⁄2 games on Aug. 25, then Philadelphia, TBA won 23 of the last 31 games to finish its improbable charge. Arizona vs. Milwaukee The Cardinals also owe the Saturday, Oct. 1: Arizona Philadelphia Phillies a tip of (I.Kennedy 21-4) at Milwaukee the cap for ending the season (Gallardo 17-10), 1:07 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2: Arizona (D.Hudson with a sweep of the Braves, 16-12) at Milwaukee (Marcum 13-7), who lost 18 of their last 27. 3:37 p.m. “To me, forever and ever, I Tuesday, Oct. 4: Milwaukee at have the Phillies in the high- Arizona, TBA est regard,” manager Tony x-Wednesday, Oct. 5: Milwaukee Arizona, TBA La Russa said. “It’s just not to atx-Friday, Oct. 7: Arizona at think they won three games, Milwaukee, TBA but it’s the way they competed.” But come Saturday, the 102-win Phillies will be hosting a confident, 90-win club. team that we’ve been over “It’s a great feeling to be the last month this year. able to come from so far “If we do, we have a down,” Lance Berkman said. chance.” “We felt like we had a run La Russa remembers wonlike these in us, and we ex- dering at one point in August ecuted it just in the nick of if the Cardinals would fintime. ish above .500 and relishes “And here we are.” his ninth playoff appearance The Cardinals and Nation- in 16 years with St. Louis all als were the only two Na- the more. After trailing the tional League teams to post Braves by 101⁄2 games on Aug. a winning record against 25, the Cardinals were 23-9 Philadelphia. St. Louis took the rest of the way, taking the season series 6-3 and took nine of 10 series and sweepthree of four on the road ear- ing the Braves and NL Central-champion Brewers. lier this month. They won 16 of their last 21 Berkman batted .467 against the Phillies with two to finally overtake the Braves, who are the first team in mahomers and seven RBIs. “A lot is going to be made jor league history to blow a of the fact that we played lead of at least eight games pretty well against the Phil- for a playoff spot in Septemlies this year, but with the ber. “We came from so far playoffs it’s a different story,” Berkman said. “We just have back,” La Russa said. “It’s to come out and try to be the nice to be part of history
NEW YORK (AP) — After a long flight, a pre-dawn arrival and a workout that came all too soon, Derek Jeter is ready for the playoffs. Almost. First, a good night’s sleep would be nice. “Man, I got home at 4:30. I don’t even know what I’m saying right now,” a blearyeyed Jeter said Thursday, a day before he and the New York Yankees face Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers in an AL division series opener. “It’s not fun yet.” It’s about to be, though. Justin Verlander vs. CC Sabathia in Game 1 is about as good as postseason matchups get. “It’s funny. The season has kind of gone full circle,”
Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira said. “We started in March with Verlander and CC opening day and now the playoffs. It should be fun.” Verlander, who went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts, looms as one of the biggest first-round obstacles for the Yankees. Of course, the Yankees have an ace of their own in Sabathia, who goes against a Tigers’ lineup that carried Detroit to a 30-9 finish to the season. “A whole new season starts tomorrow for everybody,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. And it starts with the tastiest of first-round pitching matchups.
NLDS
David J. Phillip /AP Photo
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS STARTING PITCHER CHRIS CARPENTER (29) AND CATCHER YADIER MOLINA CELEBRATE the Cardinals’ victory over Houston on Wednesday in Houston. St. Louis will regroup before facing the Philadelphia Phillies. because the club deserved it. We were great for four months, and we had a little bad period, then we really came charging back. “Adversity was something that we embraced.” More adversity lingers for the postseason, with Matt Holliday (hand) and Rafael Furcal (hamstring) questionable for the Division Series opener. Holliday hasn’t played since leaving Tuesday’s game with a tendon strain, and Furcal was hurt on Monday. Allen Craig has given the offense a big boost in place of Holliday and finished with
a .315 average, 11 homers and 40 RBIs in only 200 at-bats. Nick Punto is the likely replacement at shortstop if Furcal can’t go. Kyle Lohse (14-8, 3.39) was set to start a one-game playoff on Thursday had the Cardinals and Braves tied. Now, he’ll start in the Division Series opener. Lohse endured alterations to the rotation that had him starting on long rest a handful of times after the All-Star break and was at his best in the final month, going 3-1 with a 1.37 ERA. He was 1-1 with a 1.76 ERA in two starts against the Phillies.
Underdog Diamondbacks to open against Brewers PHOENIX (AP) — Asked whether he would play up the underdog role to his upstart Arizona Diamondbacks, Kirk Gibson initially bristled. “Who says we’re the underdog?” the grizzled manager fired back. “I don’t think we feel we are. That’s the most important thing.” But, the more Gibson talked, the more it sounded like he was relishing the role of dark horse. After perfecting the chipon-the-shoulder thing during 17 big-league seasons, it seems Gibson doesn’t mind if his team plays that way, too. Predicted to be headed toward another so-so year after a pair of 90-loss seasons, the Diamondbacks were one of the surprises of baseball, earning their first NL West
title since 2007 on their way to winning 94 games. Now, the team that had so few preseason expectations is headed to the playoffs, opening the NLDS on Saturday at Milwaukee with ace Ian Kennedy facing Brewers righthander Yovani Gallardo. Making the cliché of one pitch at a time their mantra for the season, the Diamondbacks were the masters of the comeback, rallying from behind to win 48 times. And now the Diamondbacks are the team nobody is banking on, their odds of winning the World Series at 14-to-1 or worse. Not that anyone in Arizona is complaining, particularly Gibson. “It’s a good position to be in,” he said.
with Manny and his coaching staff and the tone they set in spring training,” Antonetti said Thursday. “I feel much better about where we are today than where we were a year ago, and I think a lot of that has to do with Manny’s leadership.” Acta is 149-175 in two seasons with Cleveland. “I’m very happy that I know I will be here for at least two years,” he said. “This is a place I want to be.”
White Sox, Marlins complete swap
BRIEFLY MLB’s attendance rallied in 2011 season NEW YORK — In a season full of comebacks, Major League Baseball attendance also rallied. MLB’s average attendance rose by about half of 1 percent this year, ending three straight seasons of drops. The NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies led baseball’s attendance chart for the
first time, drawing 3,680,718 fans. The Phillies have had 204 straight regular-season sellouts at Citizens Bank Park — Boston has sold out 712 straight games at Fenway Park. The overall attendance of 73,425,568 this year was the fifth-highest in MLB history. The 30 teams combined to average 30,229, STATS LLC said after the regular season ended Wednesday night. That was up from 30,067 last year.
Cleveland extends manager Acta CLEVELAND — Manny Acta’s second season managing the Indians was stressful. Next year, he can relax a little. One day after Acta led Cleveland to a second-place finish in the AL Central, general manager Chris Antonetti announced the club has exercised its 2013 option.
Acta kept the Indians in contention for much of this season before injuries overwhelmed the young club, which finished 14 games behind AL Central champion Detroit. A rash of injuries torpedoed a 30-15 start, but the Indians still managed to finish 80-82 — an 11-game improvement over Acta’s first season. “When we reflect on the successes we’ve had and the progress we’ve made, it began
MIAMI — The Chicago White Sox have acquired right-hander Jhan Marinez and infielder Ozzie Martinez as part of the agreement that allowed the Florida Marlins to hire Ozzie Guillen as manager. The Marlins acquired minor league right-hander Ricardo Andres in the deal announced Thursday.