The Florida Marlins will advance to the National League Championship Series after defeating the San Francisco Giants yesterday. Both clubs sent rookie starters to the mound for game four of their series, though LHP Dontrelle Willis has generated far more excitement in Florida than RHP Jerome Williams has with Giants' fans. RHP Jason Schmidt was willing to return if asked, but knew he was pitching with a partially torn tendon in his elbow and believed that going out on short rest would not help the team.

Willis began showing fatigue as the season advanced, and his involvement in Game 2 of the series went beyond the exertion of a normal side session, so I expected him to be hitable in his start. San Francisco strung together a walk, a single, and a sac fly to score first in the second inning. However, Florida countered with a run in the bottom of the inning. 3B-R Miguel Cabrera led off the inning with a double and advanced to third when OF-R Juan Encarnacion laid a sac bunt down to the right of the pitchers' mound. OF-R Jeff Conine hit a grounder to short and SS-R Rich Aurilia made a wild throw to first base that 1B-L J.T. Snow was unable to stop, but the error didn't contribute to Cabrera scoring as he was running when the ball was hit and would have scored regardless of the accuracy of the throw.

Williams escaped the inning without allowing another run, though he did give up a single to Willis. Taking the mound in the third, Willis moved cleanly through the Giants lineup, putting his second inning problems behind him. Williams was not able to do the same. He walked 2B-S Luis Castillo, who then scored when he gave up a double to C-R Ivan Rodriguez, who scored when 1B-R Derrek Lee singled into left. At that point, San Francisco Manager Felipe Alou chose to lift Williams and put in RHP Jim Brower. Brower escaped the inning without allowing further runs to score, but Willis turned the Giants around one-two-three, and then led off the fourth with another single. The Marlins drove in Willis, putting Florida up 5-1.

San Francisco went down one-two-three again in the fifth. Willis hit a triple in the bottom of the inning, making him 3-3 at the plate, though he remained stranded when the inning ended. The exertion of running out the triple probably cost him on the mound in the next inning as the Giants finally began to move their bats with some success. 2B-S Ray Durham singled, OF-R Jeffery Hammonds singled, and Aurilia doubled, scoring Durham. OF-L Barry Bonds hit a sac fly to left, scoring Hammonds. 3B-R Edgardo Alfonzo doubled, scoring Aurilia at which point Florida Manager Jack McKeon decided he had allowed the Giants to play catch up long enough, so he sent in Brad Penny to relieve Willis. Penny allowed Willis' runner to score, evening the game at 5 but didn't hurt his own ERA. After that offensive explosion, the bullpens took control of the game and extra innings once again looked like a possibility.

Florida took the lead with a bang in the bottom of the eighth when Cabrera hit a single into right. When the ball was hit, IRod was on second with Lee on first. IRod came barreling towards home. C-R Yorvit Torrealba had to move slightly up the third base line to field OF-S Jose Cruz's throw from the outfield and Rodriguez collided with Torrealba moments after he made the catch. The ball rolled away, and before anyone could retrieve it, Lee had crossed the plate. San Francisco looked dead heading into the top of the ninth, but after IF-S Neifi Perez led off the inning with an unlikely double and scored on a Snow single, the Giants were suddenly back in the game with three outs to drive in the tying run. Pinch hitters CR-R Pedro Feliz and C-R Benito Santiago both burned outs before RHP Ugueth Urbina hit Durham, putting runners at first and second. Hammonds then hit a fly ball into shallow left field where Conine was playing too deep to catch it. With third base coach Gene Glynn waiving him on, Snow proceeded past third and towards the plate. The ball reached Rodriguez's glove while Snow was still a good yard away. Rather than attempting to slide under a tag, Snow chose to tackle IRod in an effort to knock loose the ball. Rodriguez held onto the ball, Snow was called out, and the Marlines advanced to the NLCS, leaving Giants' fans to grumble about the many ways in which San Francisco could have avoided that out.

San Francisco carried 12 pitchers on their postseason roster, and while that might have been somewhat nice with extra inning game, having 2B-R Eric Young available as a pinch runner is far more valuable in the playoffs. Young might not have beaten the throw, but the play would have been much closer. Alternately, Snow could have held up at third or tried to slide past Rodriguez.

Meanwhile in Minnesota, the Twins took on the Yankees at the Metrodome. The game coincided with Minnesota starter RHP Kyle Lohse's 25th birthday, while the Yankees sent the 41-year-old RHP Roger Clemens to the mound. Neither team scored in the first inning. OF-S Bernie Williams led off the second with a double to right and moved to third when C-S Jorge Posada grounded out to 1B-L Doug Mientkiewicz. After so nicely moving himself into scoring position, Williams could have walked home from third following OF-L Hideki Matsui's towering shot to right.

Clemens dispatched the Twins quickly in the bottom of the second, allowing the Yankees to resume their offensive push. New York threw together a few singles to increase their lead to 3-0. Consequently, C-L A.J. Pierzynski's solo homer to lead off the bottom of the third didn't really trouble the visitors. The Yankees didn't score again off Lohse, however he'd thrown 105 pitches through 5 innings, so the Twins sent out LHP Kenny Rogers to pitch the sixth. Minnesota's pen didn't allow New York to add to their lead, but Clemens essentially shut down the Twins for 7 innings and then handed the ball over to RHP Mariano Rivera, who pitched two scoreless innings for the save. The series now stands at 2-1 Yankees with the Twins needing to win tomorrow in order to avoid elimination.

Both the Braves and the Cubs had their bats moving in Game 4 of their series. Pitching on three days rest for only the second time in his career, RHP Russ Ortiz did not look sharp, and after a one-two-three first, RHP Matt Clement also began to have problems. Chicago scored the first run of the game when OF-R Moises Alou doubled into left. OF-R Sammy Sosa, who was on first after a walk, took off on the pitch and hustled home. Atlanta put together a run off Clement in the top of the fourth to even the score at one. Chicago put runners on base in the bottom of the inning but failed to score. OF-S Chipper Jones hit a two run homer into the first row of fans just left of centerfield in the fifth. Clement then allowed another run to score before the Cubs lifted him for RHP Antonio Alfonseca, who was able to record the third out without increasing the Braves' lead. Ortiz left the game after giving up a solo homer to 1B-R Eric Karros to lead off the bottom of the 6th.

Neither team scored in the 7th, and with RHP Kyle Farnsworth on the mound, the Cubs seemed likely to keep the Braves from increasing their lead in the 8th. Instead, Farnsworth had to leave the game after a wild play in which his injury wasn't even the focus of the replays.

1B-L Robert Fick led off the inning with a bunt to the left of the pitcher's mound. Farnsworth moved off the mound to field the ball then slipped down to his knees as he turned to throw to first for the out. Even from his knees, Farnsworth was able to make an accurate and quick throw to first that beat Fick to the bag. Rather than merely run through the base with his arms continuing to pump by his side, Fick swung his left arm out to clothesline Karros' upraised glove arm. The glove and the ball rolled away from Karros, but the umpires ruled Karros had been in possession of the ball long enough for Fick to be out. Karros rolled on the ground near first base clutching his elbow while Farnsworth still lay on the ground by the mound.

Both rose to their feet and were checked out by medical personnel. LHP Mark Guthrie relieved Farnsworth, who'd jammed his right kneecap when he fell. Karros remained in the game though he was concerned he'd hyper-extended his elbow. Fick's actions were dirty and deserving of a harsh response from Major League Baseball, as Karros could have been hurt much worse.

Guthrie successfully retired Furcal, but he then gave up a walk to 2B-R Marcus Giles before Chipper hit a near replica of his first home run, bringing the Braves' lead to 6-2. In the bottom of the inning, Karros achieved some payback, hitting his second homer of the day, but the solo shot still left the Cubs three runs behind Atlanta.

The Braves brought in RHP John Smoltz in the ninth, but his recent arm problems left Chicago hope they normally wouldn't have. 1B-L Randall Simon connected with the first pitch he saw for a double deep down the left field line. C-R Damian Miller then sent a ball deep into right center, driving in Simon and putting himself on second. OF-L Kenny Lofton struck out and 2B-R Mark Grudzielanek popped out to Giles. Consequently, Sosa came to the plate with two outs and a chance to tie the game with a homer. Smoltz had been laboring through the inning and grimaced before every pitch he threw to Sammy. The count went to 3-2 before Sammy hit a high fly ball that came down just at the edge of the warning track where OF-R Andruw Jones made the catch to end the game.

Chicago will now head to Atlanta for a series deciding game. However, judging by the way he was slapping hands with his teammates using only his left arm, Smoltz may be heading to Alabama rather than Georgia. I definitely expect him to visit Dr. James Andrews for a check up on his elbow after Game 5 if not before.

RHP Derek Lowe pitched lights out through the first five innings of Boston's must win Game 3 against Oakland. LHP Ted Lilly worked into and out of a jam in the first inning and then watched as his defense handed the Red Sox a run in the second.

1B-R Kevin Millar led off the bottom of the second with a single to the left side of the infield. Oakland had the opportunity to erase him from the bases when C-S Jason Varitek hit a bouncer past the mound to SS-R Miguel Tejada, who bobbled it, allowing Varitek and Millar to safely reach first and second respectively. OF-R Gabe Kapler then hit a grounder slightly to the right of third base. 3B-L Eric Chavez fielded the ball cleanly and stepped on third to force out Millar, but his throw bounced on the way to first base where 1B-L Scott Hatteberg bobbled it, allowing Kapler to reach first safely and Varitek to advance to third. 2B-R Damian Jackson followed with a grounder right to Chavez at third base. Chavez ran down the line toward Varitek, who'd taken off on contact. Varitek was caught in a run down, but Chavez threw to C-R Ramon Hernandez too soon and Varitek had a chance to dash toward third, where Tejada was in position to take over for Chavez, but Chavez didn't get out of the way. Varitek ran into Chavez, leading the umpire to call interference and award home to Varitek.

In the bottom of the fifth, C-R Doug Mirabelli, 1B-L Andy Abad, OF-S Adrian Brown, and 3B-R Lou Merloni stood up on Boston's dugout steps, the first had an Li on the back of his jacket, the second an L, the next a -, and the last had an LY. The team was encouraging their fans to continue a singsong chant of the opposing pitcher's last name. Lilly, who is a dead ringer for actor Colin Farrell, did not seem phased by the crowd. We were amused and applauded the Red Sox's initiative.

OF-R Eric Byrnes led off the sixth for Oakland and seemed determined to even the score. He singled, stole second, and then moved to third when OF-L Billy McMillon grounded out to Jackson. Byrnes ran home as Tejada slapped a ball to the left of the pitcher's mound. Lowe fielded the ball and flung it to the plate, but the throw was wide of Varitek and skidded to the backstop. When Byrnes reached the plate, he dove around Varitek. After rising to his feet, Byrnes displayed the maturity of the terrible two year old whose haircut he's stolen, shoving Varitek, who was retrieving the ball. Varitek hustled to recover the ball and then ran over to tag Byrnes, who had not touched home plate. Suddenly, Oakland's run was an out.

With two outs and men on second and third, the Red Sox intentionally walked Chavez to load the bags and set up force outs at all bases. Hernandez hit a bouncer toward SS-R Nomar Garciaparra, who let the ball get through to shallow left field. As Tejada rounded third, he collided with 3B-S Bill Mueller and the umpire called obstruction, but the ball was not dead because the Red Sox were not making a play on Tejada at the time. Tejada apparently believed he'd be awarded home, as Varitek was earlier in the game. After coming around the base, Tejada began pointing back towards the bag, slowed to a jog, stopped 2/3 of the way down the line, put his hands in the air, as if to signal he was safe, and pointed to third base. Meanwhile, OF-R Manny Ramirez threw to Varitek, who jumped up to make the catch and then jogged over to tag Tejada for the third out. Consequently, the half inning ended with the score tied at one rather than with Oakland leading by 2 or more runs.

With Lowe at 100 pitches and Lilly at 106, both teams moved to their bullpens after the seventh inning. The much-maligned Red Sox's pen didn't allow Oakland a baserunner for four innings as the game went into extra innings. Boston put several men on base but no one was driving in the walk off run. In the 11th inning with C-R Doug Mirabelli on first after a single, OF-L Trot Nixon hit a two run blast just over the center field wall, winning the game and keeping the Red Sox in the playoffs for at least another day.