While Tom Glavine's struggles yesterday weren't nearly as surprising as Randy Johnson's on Tuesday, this postseason appears to belong to the hitters, at least for the Division Series. Glavine, highly focused on neutralizing Barry Bonds, failed to contain the remainder of the lineup.

Manager Bobby Cox tried to help Glavine by putting a good defense on the field, but he would have been much better off playing his better offensive players. Marcus Giles should have started at second base instead of Keith Lockhart. I also don't know why Julio Franco was in the lineup over Matt Franco. Matt put together an impressive season as the left-handed side of a platoon at first base, batting almost exclusively against right-handers. In 205 AB, he hit .317 with a .395 OBP and .517 SLG on 65 H, 15 2B, 4 3B, and 6 HR with a 27:31 BB:K and 1/1 SB%. The right-handed Julio played against both lefties and righties, but he performed much better against left-handers, while Matt's numbers were superior to Julio against right-handers. Atlanta eventually used Matt as a pinch-hitter for Damian Moss in the 7th inning, but San Francisco switched in LHP Scott Eyre, forcing the Braves to pull the unused Franco in favor of the switch-hitting Marcus Giles. Matt works much better as a starter, as then Atlanta almost can guarantee he'll bat two or three times before late-inning platoon match-ups prompt his removal.

I'm already tired of hearing of Bonds' postseason problems at the plate. Andruw Jones robbed Bonds of a homer in the fourth inning, eliciting memories of Torii Hunter's catch in the All-Star game. First, very few players have a large sample size of at-bats in the playoffs, so the postseason averages quoted by announcers are essentially meaningless. Second, there appears to be a much greater focus on the details in the playoffs, particularly the first round, which is so short that chance plays a significant part. Teams are going to focus on neutralizing known threats. Therefore a lot of stars will have lower postseason production as the other team is set against having those players beat them. Consequently, as in Wednesday's game, they often lose to other players on the star's team. To hold Bonds' postseason play against his status as the best hitter in the game is ridiculous and highly narrow-minded.

Minnesota should have thrown Eric Milton yesterday rather than Joe Mays, who I might not have even taken on the playoff roster. Mays missed the majority of the season with arm problems and hasn't pitched consistently since his return. Meanwhile Kyle Lohse has been the only starter to remain in the rotation all season and is now relegated to the bullpen. The left-handed Milton might have been able to neutralize the productive left-handers in the A's lineup. After Eric Chavez's homer in the first, the momentum was entirely on Oakland's side of the game.

While the broadcast team made a point of showing Jason Giambi's newly patched pants on Wednesday, the lucky slacks weren't able to pull out a win for the Yankees. Following Tuesday's experience, Manager Mike Scioscia didn't wait to use Troy Percival in ninth, calling upon him to pitch the last out in the eighth even though Brendan Donnelly was doing just fine. However, the Angels were in a tight spot because Ben Weber had allowed two baserunners. Weber left the game after reaching out with his pitching hand to grab a Raul Mondesi line drive hit past the mound. Hopefully his injury will discourage Scioscia from using Weber in the future, as he put the runners on base that scored on Tuesday, losing the game for the Angels.

Francisco Rodriguez received his first taste of postseason play on Wednesday. Unfortunately, while he allowed no walks and only two hits, one of the hits was a two run homer by Alfonso Soriano. However the 20-year-old also won the game after the Angels took the lead in the top of the 8th inning.

The real pitching story of the night was Orlando Hernandez, who relieved Andy Pettitte. Pettitte struggled, and with Ducky available, Torre gave him the quick hook after three innings. Hernandez pitched great for four innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four before giving up back-to-back homers to Garret Anderson and Troy Glaus. With his third homer in two days, Glaus appears set to emblazon his name on the national stage, priming for a run at next season's MVP.

I'm torn as to what the Yankees should do with Hernandez if they make it to the second round. One might think that his performance earned him a start. However, I feel that since you never know which of the New York starters will struggle, the Yankees are probably better off keeping him in the pen as insurance. Hernandez is also more accustomed to relief work than any of the pitchers who might swap places with him, and I can't envision not starting Clemens, Pettitte, Mussina, or David Wells.

Surprisingly, the Yankees revealed a weakness in their bench in the ninth inning when the best pinch-runner they could deploy to replace Jorge Posada on the basepaths was Enrique Wilson. While he may have possessed some speed in the past, Wilson is definitely beyond his listed weight of 170 lbs. Juan Rivera would have been the ideal candidate to replace Posada, but due to Rondell White's injury, Rivera started on Wednesday night. White strained his left hamstring on Tuesday and probably won't be available for the remainder of the division series.