Rockies Continue to Roll

Colorado Rockies' Kazuo Matsui, right, is sprayed with champagne by pitcher Franklin Morales after the Rockies beat the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of a National League Division Series playoff baseball game on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007 at Coors Field in Denver. The Rockies sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies advanced them to the National League Championship. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

Unbelievable. The Rockies have lost like one game in the last two and a half weeks.

Although it's interesting to see new blood in the League Championship series, you gotta assume that the brass at TBS will be looking at some seriously poor ratings as the D-backs and Rockies, expansion teams from the 90's, fight it out to decide who represents the NL in the World Series. They had to have been praying for a Phillies/Cubs match up that would draw on large established fan bases.

As for this afternoon's Red Sox/Angels game, it would be nice if the Angels won one game, but I doubt it.

As for the Yankees, I don't care if we win or lose. I dreamt that we got blown out early and lost by the same score that the Mets lost by last week -- 8-1. If we win, I'll be ecstatic of course, but we don't deserve to win. Torre is incapable of thinking outside the box in the playoffs. It's not his nature. He did it last year when he stuck Sheffield and Matsui, both coming off of hand surgeries, in the postseason lineup and killed the chemistry established by Melky. He's done it again in this series by starting ailing Matsui at DH for two games when we have a healthy Shelly Duncan and a healthy Jason Giambi on the bench. Both of those players came off the bench and got hits and Matsui hasn't sniffed one yet.

I don't want to hear anything about A-Rod. He's not the problem. He's hitless, but so are Posada and Matsui. Jeter, Cano and Melky are all hitting under .200. The only one doing anything is Bobby Abreu! He may have saved his job here.

Number 13

There was an interesting rundown of A-Rod's April stats on ESPN on Sunday. It's still hard to warm up to this guy after he's let the team down in the post season every year, however, these numbers were impressive:

1 Grand Slam
2 Walk-off home runs
3 Multi-home run games
4 [His spot in the order]
5 Home runs when the Yankees were trailing
6 Go-ahead home runs
7 Home runs at home (and 7 on the road)
8 Two-run home runs
9 Home runs with 2 outs
10 Home runs to left field
11 Home runs with runners on
12 Home runs vs. right-handed pitchers
13 [His number]
14 Home runs in April, tying Albert Pujols' record set in 2006.


Hey, Alex -- **PLEASE** repeat this performance in October, okay?

The Walk-off: Part Deux

New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez, right, celebrates with teammates and coaches after hitting a two-out, walk-off, three-run home run in the Yankees 8-6 win over the Cleveland Indians in their baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, Thursday, April 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

En Fuego!

Unbelievable. Look who came out the box hot – A-Rod, leading the league in homers and RBI and sharing Player of The Week honors with Vladimir Guerrero.

I especially loved Saturday’s game. Two outs in the 9th, three men manage to get on base, A-Rod’s down to his last strike, BOOM! Grand slam. Awesome. I screamed and scared poor Orlando.

Too bad it’s April. If only A- Rod could’ve done this against the Tigers in October. **SIGH**

From Yankees.com:

Alex Rodriguez felt so good after his walk-off grand slam on Saturday he thought he'd add to it, so the Yankees third baseman slugged a two-run homer in his next at-bat the following day.

"I'm having a good time," Rodriguez said Sunday.

The Orioles, however, were not enjoying Rodriguez's success. Their pitching staff was at the mercy of the 2003 and 2005 AL MVP as A-Rod was 5-for-11 against Baltimore (.455) with three homers and eight RBIs.

His performance earned him the distinction of receiving the season's first AL Player of the Week award, which he'll share with Angels right fielder Vladimir Guerrero.

Rodriguez, a 10-time All-Star, went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs on Opening Day against Tampa Bay, and drove in another run Tuesday. It was a refreshing change from the postseason struggles he endured at the end of the 2006 season, and Yankees manager Joe Torre credits part of it to a lack of hesitation in Rodriguez's swings.

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