2010 MLB Playoffs

A.J. Burnett has the fate of the New York Yankees in his enigmatic hands when he takes the hill tonight in the Bronx.

However, this time he may accomplish what he sets out to do.

Burnett is not your ordinary pitcher. He possesses above average pitches for everything he throws, especially his fastball-curveball combination. Scouts would genuinely tell you that Burnett has the best curve in the majors, which is a testament to his raw ability.

Good afternoon baseball fans, and welcome to Game 3 of the NLCS.

Baseball superfan Evan Adrian here, guiding you through this pivotal matchup between the Phillies and the Giants in San Francisco.

Philadelphia will send Cole Hamels to the mound, fresh off his complete-game shutout of the Cincinnati Reds. Matt Cain will toe the rubber for San Francisco.

Just taking a glance at Cliff Lee on television from time to time, you likely wouldn’t find yourself to be overly impressed.

He will never throw harder than 93 with his fastball. He doesn’t do anything funky with his motion. He is very deliberate and has a plan of attack for the hitters.

In some ways, he could be classified as boring.

Before the game yesterday, Cliff Lee facts were trending on Twitter (#cliffleefacts). Some of the facts were ridiculous, such as "Cy Young won five Cliff Lee Awards", and "Neftali Feliz does not have to come to the game when Cliff Lee pitches, because Cliff Lee needs no closer."

There's no way you can take away from what Cliff Lee did last night.

Trust me, I'd love to. I wish I could say it had something to do with his "magic" hat, a pact with Satan, or some potent HGH cocktail guzzled before first pitch, but I just can't.

I know most people are calling for CC Sabathia on three days' rest, including some national sportswriters.

I am not a Yankees fan, but I truly believe in order to win this series, the Yankees have to pitch A.J. Burnett in Game 4 and hope for the best. 

There are several reasons why pitching Burnett is the right decision.

Texas Rangers pitcher, Cliff Lee had one of the 2010 MLB postseason's best performances last night at Yankee Stadium.  He struck out 13 New York Yankees hitters, while only allowing two hits and zero runs in eight innings.

While that seems like an outstanding game, (which it is) a couple other performances have one-upped Lee when it comes down to the final stat line.

2010 is definitely the year of the pitcher (outside of 1968), a couple of hitting performances have been just as important. 

Did the slugger of your favorite postseason team make the list?

The star-studded staffs of the Giants and the Phillies have been largely dominant in the series so far, despite Roy Halladay's ho-hum performance in Game 1; but Game 3 has the potential to become an offensive shootout even though a pair of elite pitchers are involved. 

Even knowing the Texas Rangers had Cliff Lee on the mound, the New York Yankee fans arrived at the game ready for a win and made it loud and clear

That dream became a nightmare pretty fast, as Lee brought his A-plus game once again and the Rangers won 8-0.

So, instead fans left confused, discouraged and embarrassed. Below are the three dilemmas I had, after freezing my butt off in the Bronx:

The New York Yankees crowd rose to their feet, cheering on their team. But what they were cheering was indicative of the start put together by a certain Texas Rangers unflappable left-handed pitcher. The ovation formulated when a Yankees hitter worked a three-ball count—nothing more. This is how dominant Cliff Lee—their nonchalant, modest, 31-year-old ace—was.