NIGHT OF THE LIVING WALK-OFFS

I officially dub last night "Night of the Living Walk-Offs", as both LCS games ended in dramatic fashion. I already documented the Angels extra-inning walk-off, AKA the Joe Giradi Special, in my last column, but later on the Phillies did the same, blowing up yet another closer (Broxton) in the process. They are now one game away from the World Series, and you have to think that the Dodgers will not be escaping Philadelphia.

Charlie Manuel's line-up is filled with gritty gamers led by the unstoppable force known as Ryan Howard. They won a World Series last year for a reason, and the more they play this series, the more I think it's silly that I picked against them. I can't fathom how the Dodgers can respond and run the table for the rest of this NLCS. St. Joe will really have work some magic for that to happen, but in reality, it's been awhile since Torre has really had that type of magic.

You have to hand to Brad Lidge as well. Everyone listed him, and Manuel's faith in him, as reason #1 that the Phillies weren't getting far in these playoffs, but he's changed his whole season around at exactly the right time. With him being fine, the rest of the team is doing what they do. Never say die, and win.

Getting back to the ALCS, there was another waste of a move I forgot to mention yesterday, and that was bringing in Damaso Marte for a batter, him doing his job, but then starting the next inning he brings in his other lefty, Phil Coke, to face a lefty in Bobby Abreu! El Comedulce then proceeds to rip a double, which, luckily, El Capitan caught him rounding to far off second with a great throw to a perfectly placed Mark Teixeira. Still, though, the move made no sense, and you eliminated another pitcher early.

There were a few pluses to the Yanks yesterday, though, like bringing in Mo when they did, who proceeded to do a Houdini act and get the Yankees out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam. The guy that helped with that was the aforementioned Teixeira, who while continuing to be clueless with the stick, has been fantastic with his glove. He's saved the Yankees multiple times this post-season, and his abilities were on full display last night during that inning, with covering second as mentioned above, and numerous other plays. His bat, though, needs to come alive tonight, as do many others in their line-up.

And make no mistake, tonight's Game Four is huge. Can CC Sabathia pitch well on 3 days rest? This was one of the big decisions the Yanks made, and if this comes back to bite them as well, then the series will become seriously interesting with the momentum switching sides (if it hasn't already). CC has already earned his money this post-season, but he's being put up against it tonight against an extremely fresh Scott Kazmir. With the NLCS being off, all eyes will be firmly on Anaheim tonight.