After picking 3 of the 4 division series correctly, I’ll take a shot at picking the winners of the League Championship Series also. In the one series I did get wrong, Tampa Bay vs. Texas, I mentioned that if the Rays’ bats went silent it would give the Rangers an opening to pull off the upset. If anything silenced the Rays’ bats, it was Cliff Lee’s pitching. Here are my choices for the ALCS and NLCS:
Texas vs. New York
This appears to be a lopsided series with the defending champion Yankees being well rested and having their pitching rotation set up perfectly. If Texas is going to somehow win, they’ll have to do it the same way they eliminated Tampa, by scratching and clawing for runs and prolonging the series long enough to get 2 starts from Lee, since he won’t be available to start game one after having to pitch the ALDS clincher. It would help if Josh Hamilton’s bat came alive, but he appears to still be hampered by the injury that slowed him at the end of the regular season. The Yankees should get good starts from C.C. Sabathia and Andy Pettitte, and even if their pitching falters somewhat, the team’s lineup is just too good to keep contained, especially in a seven game series. Former Ranger Mark Teixeira will be a factor in the series with both his bat and glove, while another former Ranger, Alex Rodriguez, makes some noise with his bat also. The Yanks should win this series in 5 games.
Mark Teixeira (left) and Cliff Lee.
San Francisco vs. Philadelphia
This should be a great matchup – with the 2 best starting rotations in all of baseball going toe to toe. The series will be decided by which team manages to drum up the most offense, and in my opinion the Phillies have the lineup more capable of doing so. Their lineup has the type of players that can hit for power or also manufacture runs in tight pitching duels. If the Giants are to win the series, they’ll do it by matching the Phils’ outstanding starting rotation, keep the games close until the late innings, then take advantage of their superior bullpen to win the games in those late innings. I will pick the Phils to win, however, in a long, hard-fought seven game series. Ryan Howard, who hasn’t necessarily been the superstar hitter in postseason play that he has in regular season play, will have a breakout series also. Although my feeling is that Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum will cancel each other out by each winning a start, the Phillies’ rotation is a bit deeper than the Giants, and that will be the difference.
Ryan Howard (left) and Tim Lincecum.