Kevin Millwood shut down the Giants on Thursday, pitching six innings of three-hit ball with no walks and seven strikeouts. Although two of the hits he allowed were homers to J.T. Snow and Rich Aurillia, the Braves were able to chase Kirk Rueter from the game after 3 innings in which he allowed nine baserunners, including back-to-back homers to Javy Lopez and Vinny Castilla, while only striking out one batter.

Barry Bonds worked to eradicate his reputation for poor play in the postseason with a home run off John Smoltz in the ninth, but the Giants were unable to overcome their four run deficit. Greg Maddux was scheduled to start Thursday, but a blister pushed him back to Saturday. Millwood likely would have been Atlanta's best choice for game one of the playoffs. Luckily for the Braves, San Francisco's rotation is also off, as they should have pitched Jason Schmidt in game one rather than saving him for game three. This series should remain close to the end.

Curt Schilling's Thursday performance fell somewhere in between the meltdown I expected coming into the playoffs and the dominant show I thought he might present after Randy's problems. Over seven innings he limited the Cardinals to one walk and seven hits, including a J.D. Drew homer in the third. However, he also struck out seven, including Jim Edmonds with the bases loaded to end the seventh.

Unfortunately for Diamondback fans, Chuck Finley contributed an even better performance in his 6.1 IP before leaving the game with a minor muscle cramp in his pitching hand, which shouldn't bother him in his next start.

The Cardinals lost another player in the bottom of the seventh. Arizona sent Alex Cintron in to pinch-run for Chad Moeller, and on the following play, Cintron collided with Rolen while running from second to third while Rolen tried to field a grounder hit by Junior Spivey. Cintron's foot kicked Rolen in the chest and shoulder. Miguel Cairo subbed for Rolen and ultimately hit a single to score the game-winning run in the ninth. Later exams revealed Rolen suffered a sprained shoulder, putting him on the bench for the remainder of the Division Series and the NL League Championship Series if St. Louis reaches that level of the postseason, as now looks probable. I should have listened to my instincts and picked the Cardinals to win this series, but I was worried about their health and didn't expect both Randy and Schilling to lose.

Oakland and Minnesota moved to the Metrodome for game three of their series on Friday. The noise was heavy at times but not nearly as overpowering as many expected, probably because the A's began the game with a crowd-silencing act. Leadoff hitter Ray Durham hit a line drive into center where Torii Hunter attempted to intercept the ball but missed, letting it hop back to the outfield wall. Durham took off around the bases, nearly tripping over first and again while approaching home, though he reached home safely for an inside-the-park homer that probably should have been called a single and a 3-base error on Hunter. Oakland #2 hitter Scott Hatteberg took advantage of the rattled Rick Reed to hit a homer over the right field fence.

The defensive fun and games of this series continued when the A's took the field in the bottom of the first. Hatteberg attempted to field a pop up near first base and wandered several feet down the line towards home before hearing the ball fall with a thud behind him near the bag. This led A's manager Art Howe to tell second baseman Mark Ellis, whose defense has pleased Oakland this season, that Ellis should catch any balls in his area. Unfortunately, as Ellis was pursuing an infield pop up in the next inning, he ran into Hatteberg, who was standing directly below the ball, causing both players to miss the catch. The noise in the stadium prevented either player from hearing the other call the ball, and if they'd taken their eyes off it, they would have lost the ball against the roof.

Barry Zito must have been somewhat distracted by the play behind him because while delivering a pitch to the next batter, the ball slipped out of his hand and landed near the first base line rather than anywhere close to the plate over which he was supposed to throw the ball. The game settled down after those events with mostly routine hits and plays. Minnesota tied the game in the bottom of the fifth, but the A's took the lead again in the sixth when Jermaine Dye hit a homer to lead off the inning. The Twins were once again forced to rely heavily on their bullpen, as Reed left after only five innings.

I expected to see the Jason Giambi deodorant ads during the playoffs, but I have to say the Don Zimmer Preparation-H commercials are an unpleasant surprise. The Anaheim/New York series has tried to live up to the antics of A's vs. Twins. In the first inning of their Friday night game, Derek Jeter walked, which while not an everyday occurrence, isn't the interesting part of this story. The Angels' offense then shifted right to cover Jason Giambi, which moved Troy Glaus over near second base, leaving third essentially uncovered Jeter stole second on ball four, then I believe the catcher threw the ball to second, where after it was bobbled Glaus recovered the ball and chased after Jeter, but Glaus was unable to tag him before Jeter reached the still-uncovered third base.

Manager Mike Scioscia looked completely confounded after the play, though as they returned to him throughout the evening, that appears to be his normal facial expression. While the Yankees would score a total of three runs in the first, the Angels weren't going to let that stand in the way of a win. Starting in the second inning, they began to wear away at starter Mike Mussina, causing Joe Torre to pull Mussina after the fourth. Jeff Weaver failed to stop the bleeding, allowing another run, so that even the Yankees three-run third inning didn't help them. New York's third inning did cause the Angels to pull starter Ramon Ortiz in favor of rookie John Lackey, who's pitching in relief for the first round of the playoffs. Francisco Rodriguez again entered the game in the seventh and this time displayed the skill that earned him a place on the postseason roster, striking out four in two innings while allowing no baserunners. The 20-year-old also earned his second postseason win. Both Adam Kennedy and Tim Salmon had big home runs.

At the end of the game, we saw two people holding up a pair of signs reading, "The Monkey's off our back…" "and now he's on our side." Anaheim's rally monkey has played a huge part in revitalizing their fan base and energizing the team this season. When playing at home, the Angels almost seem to have more fun when they need to stage a comeback with the aid of the monkey.