Baseball

A terrific NLCS between the Phillies and Giants will continue Saturday in Philadelphia. Notes from Game 5 are below:

Is anyone else a little skeptical of one of the latest releases on the Dodgers' website? According to General Manager Ned Colletti, the Dodgers are actually planning on increasing the $93 million payroll from 2010.

While the Florida Marlins may have their hands full with finding their next manager and signing Dan Uggla to a contract extension this offseason, they face an uphill battle in fixing what was broken throughout the 2010 season, bullpen aside the catcher position gave the Marlins headaches all season long. 

I'd compare it to the Marlins buying a brand new battery and having to change it every few days, which translates to every couple of weeks for the Marlins who went through an assortment of them this past season. 

At the age of 40, Japanese right-handed reliever Takashi Saito gave the Atlanta Braves a very solid season in a year in which they desperately wanted to win it all, knowing that legendary manager Bobby Cox was going to retire after the season ended.

In his sixth Major League Baseball season, Saito posted the following stats:

Games played: 56

41 hits in 54 IP

69 Strikeouts

2.83 ERA

This is the message sent to Mets fans earlier today from our good friend, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon:

“Dear Mets Fans:

As you may know, earlier today we completed the initial round of interviews with six talented candidates to become the new General Manager of the New York Mets.

When this trade was made two years ago, the Texas Rangers were getting a big time question mark, a guy who had tons of natural ability, but people weren't quite sure if he could put it all together and stay healthy.

The Reds, in desperate need of arms, got a man who had great stuff, but from all indications, had a bit of an attitude problem.

As Hamilton ascends into superstardom, playing a key role for the Rangers in this year's postseason, many are thinking that the Reds got robbed in this deal, in hindsight.

The Minnesota Twins once again will be watching the fall classic at home. The good news is that they bought new 3D TV's.

So they have that going for them.

Philadelphia enters Game 5 of the 2010 NLCS looking for a cure, and they'll turn to the good doctor Roy Halladay to find it as the Phillies get set to square off against the San Francisco Giants.

This game could be the last for the Phillies, so it’s "do or die" time, and that means several things for dem Phightin' Phils if they want to bring this series back to the City of Brotherly Love.

At the start of the season, if someone said that the Rangers and Giants would each be one win from the World Series on October 21, would you have believed them? Would anybody have?

But that is the cold, hard truth. The Rangers have a 3-2 series lead, and though the Yankees could easily stage a comeback, Texas is still in control.

The Giants meanwhile, have found their way toward a 3-1 series lead against the mighty Phillies. Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels—so what? The Giants have Lincecum, Sanchez, and Cain.

The bats finally woke up for the New York Yankees last night. CC Sabathia stepped up like any ace should, battling through six innings and giving his team the lead.

Staring elimination in the eye, the Yankees used their bats and took advantage of some sloppy play by the Texas Rangers to force a Game 6. The series now returns to Texas with the Rangers holding a three games to two lead in this best of seven series.