Bruiser Chong

He was clearly losing his touch by the end of his third inning, but I can see why Cox went with him that long. He hadn't pitched since Saturday and in a must-win situation, you've gotta have your best out there if possible.

Making Beltran a priority if you're the Yankees is foolish. Sure this team didn't light it on fire all season like everyone figured they would, but with sufficient pitching, the offense would cover the spread.

Dodgers are already looking better in less than an inning of play than they did on Tuesday. Interesting to hear Joe Buck having to be impartial when announcing a game that involves the team he announces for during the season.

I don't think this is all about steroid use. First off, there's no actual proof he did take them (honestly, I know he probably has, but until it's proven, it's all speculation). Secondly, his struggles aren't coming from lack of homers; it's lack of contact. Even when you're juicing up, you need to actually make contact with the ball for anything to come of it. Sosa really had trouble doing that this season. Then again, if he was on the juice and stopped usage, he could've been trying to do more than he was capable of to make up for the difference.

It's time for Drew to come through for the first time in the series. Never mind. That's pretty bad that Smoltz gets a hit to lead off the inning and then doesn't score, especially since Lidge isn't completely on today.

Nope. I hate Houston, but even I can't avoid praising them for all they've done correctly in the last two months. Doesn't help that Atlanta has looked completely annemic in this series until now, so there hasn't been much to praise in their favor.

Awesome. I understand bringing Lidge in during the 7th, but he's going to get overextended at this point, even though he's had since Sunday to rest.

Hey, awesome; Chipper TAKES a strike and hangs Drew out to dry.

We're wrapping up Day 2 of the postseason and so far, the two Twins/Yankees games have been the only interesting ones. This one was close for a while, but it's become yet another blowout. Joy.

Man, you guys overreact. I wasn't watching and reading this, I thought Leiber had given up five or more runs or something. OMG TWINS LEAD BY TWO IN THE THIRD INNING~!!! Relax.

That's basically what I've seen from her so far. Nothing insightful in the least. But then again, 'tis usually the case with Miss Arms. Yeah, but the Braves have had better scoring opportunities, I'd say. They stranded nine men in the first four innings. Even against Clemens, if you get that many baserunners, you've got to do something. And unlike the Yankees, the Braves aren't grounding into any doubleplays; they're just not getting the big hit when they need it.

Cuz she's a stupid fairweather bandwagon fan who's been absent from virtually every baseball-related thread this season, but shows up now that Houston's in the postseason. People like her should be punched in the face. Actually, I'd say that even if you eliminate the baseball aspect of all this.

He's just really off, which makes the fact that the Braves are drawing tons of walks and hitting the ball around but only have one run, all the more annoying. This game should probably be tied at the least right now.

The Braves are absolutely infuriating me right now. They've had baserunners in every inning and can't get anything going. Of course, it's Clemens, but they've had runners in scoring position in every inning so far and they've only scored one run (which came without courtesy of a hit). Seems like they'll get a couple guys on with one out and then Clemens will get a big out that doesn't move the runners along.

Has he broken out the whole spiel about how the slider is the only pitch that does what the name implies? "A fastball isn't all that fast; a curveball doesn't really curve." What a jackass.

I'm somewhat surprised that Johan appears to be done. He's only tossed 93 pitches and still looks to have good stuff. I suppose they're looking ahead and don't want to wear him out.

He'll never top Thom Brennaman's man-love for Miguel Cabrera last year. True, but I can't help but think it was somewhat justified. Here you had a kid who had played in his first major league game just a couple of months prior and it didn't phase him in the bit. He was one of the most critical pieces of that team down the stretch and whether it was the NLDS, NLCS or even the World Series, he was never in awe for a moment and just went out there and performed like it was just another game.

*waits for people to cry conspiracy theory against the Yankees*

They have eight hits. Johan's just good enough that he can usually get out of jams, if he should ever find his way into them. I know this does nothing to make you feel any better, but at least the Yanks are hitting him fairly well. If you've ever watched him pitch against just about any other team, you would've seen how foolish he usually makes hitters look.

That's what separates good pitchers from great pitchers. Even when he's not at his best, Santana is still crafty enough to work himself out of jams. Most Yanks fans around here didn't seem at all concerned with these same Twins a week ago, so I don't quite understand the quasi-panic settling in here.

I love how you guys are acting like the Yanks should be manhandling Santana. This is the odds-on favorite to win the Cy Young in the AL, ya know. Not like this is some shocking turn of events unfolding before our eyes.

Got out of class to hear this crap on the radio. Not that I'm surprised. I'll be shocked if the Cards don't win it all.

I've gotta head over to class now, but looks like the Cards are just continuing to do what they did all season. Timely hitting, running a lot and good defense. Go Dodgers!

I knew that was going to happen.

I'm on one of the school computers right now and am "watching" the game on MLB Gameday. We've got about eight TVs down here in the student cafeteria / lounge and NONE of them are on the game. I guess the World Series of Poker and soap operas are more important.