FOX chose to air both Game 1 of the NLCS and Game 2 of the ALCS at 7:00 p.m. CDT yesterday, leading viewers to chose between watching only one game, flipping madly between the two, or employing some kind of recording device. To further complicate matters, the games overlapped with the third and final Presidential Debate between Republican Nominee President George W. Bush and Democratic Nominee Senator John Kerry. Luckily, CNN provided a late night replay of the debate, though we've found that recording debates allows for more discussion of the issues when viewing.

LF-R Craig Biggio led off Game 1 of the National League Championship Series with a line drive up the middle for a single. Up next, CF-S Carlos Beltran belted a pitch into the right field stands for a two-run homer, giving Houston a two-run lead two batters into the game. After the home run, RHP Woody Williams retired the Astros' next three hitters, preventing Houston from increasing the damage.

In the bottom of the first, RF-S Lance Berkman failed to catch a fly ball hit to right field by RF-L Larry Walker, which allowed Walker to triple. 1B-R Albert Pujols then launched a two-run homer into the Cardinals' right field bullpen, tying the game at 2. Like the Astros, St. Louis did not score again in the inning after the home run.

Both Williams and RHP Brandon Backe went one-two-three through both the second and third innings. 1B-R Jeff Bagwell led off the fourth with a walk but was erased from the bases when Berkman grounded into a fielder's choice and the Cardinals chose to take out the lead runner. 2B-R Jeff Kent then let loose a two-run homer that fell out of the second deck of seats in left field and into Houston's bullpen. When Pujols leaned into the stands in pursuit of a 3B-R Morgan Ensberg foul ball, fans failed to curb their own pursuit of the ball and prevented the catch, but the incident turned out to be nothing more than an annoyance as the Astros failed to score again in the inning. In the bottom of the fourth, Backe hit CF-L Jim Edmonds with a pitch in the right buttocks and walked SS-R Edgar Renteria. However, St. Louis did not score.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Williams hit a fly ball over Berkman's head for a double. When 2B-L Tony Womack grounded out to short, Williams advanced to third. Walker then hit a line drive down the left field line for a double that drove in Williams. After Backe walked Pujols, Houston pulled him and put in RHP Chad Qualls. 3B-R Scott Rolen hit a line drive into left field for a single, scoring Walker to tie the game at 4, before Qualls struck out Edmonds to end the inning.

The Cardinals continued their offensive push in the sixth. Renteria and LF-R Reggie Sanders began the inning with singles and moved to third and second respectively on a C-R Mike Matheny bunt. Pinch hitting for Williams, Cedeno hit a ground ball down the first base line, where Bagwell inexplicably picked it up before it could finish rolling into foul territory. Bagwell tagged out Cedeno, but Renteria scored and Sanders advanced to third. Womack then hit a ground ball up the middle into center for a single, scoring Sanders. On the first pitch of Walker's at-bat, Womack stole second. Walker hit a soft grounder to short that should have simply resulted in a single that advanced Womack to third. However, SS-S Jose Vizcaino's throw bounced in front of Bagwell and hopped away, giving Walker second and Womack home plate. After Qualls issued a four-pitch walk to Pujols, RHP Chad Harville relieved him. Harville walked Rolen to load the bases and then gave up a double to Edmonds, which drove in all three baserunners. Renteria grounded out to second to end the inning, taking the game into the seventh with the score 10-4 St. Louis.

After neither RHP Kiko Calero nor RHP Dan Wheeler allowed a run in the seventh, Beltran led off the eighth with a line drive into shallow right field for a single off of new reliever RHP Dan Haren. Although Haren struck out Bagwell, the Cardinals lifted him in favor of LHP Ray King before Berkman's at-bat. Berkman fouled off a pitch and then sent a fly ball soaring into the second tier of left field stands for a two-run homer. Kent popped out to first base, and St. Louis replaced King with RHP Julian Tavarez. Ensberg lined out to third on Tavarez's first pitch, ending the inning. St. Louis did not increase their lead in the bottom of the eighth, so Houston went into the ninth down by four.

With two outs gone in the top of the ninth, left-handed hitter Mike Lamb pinch-hit for Wheeler, sending a solo shot into the stands in left center. Biggio followed that with a fly ball that bounced over the left field fence for an automatic double, but the Cardinals countered by replacing Tavarez with RHP Jason Isringhausen, who ended the Astros' rally with one pitch. Consequently, St. Louis won Game 1 of the NLCS by a score of 10-7.

Following RHP Jon Lieber's perfect first, RHP Pedro Martinez issued a four-pitch walk to SS-R Derek Jeter. Jeter subsequently stole second on the first pitch of 3B-R Alex Rodriguez's at-bat, though he could have advanced at a leisurely pace if he'd only waited a few pitches, as Martinez plunked ARod in the left elbow. RF-R Gary Sheffield followed with a line drive into centerfield for a single that drove in Jeter. After that Martinez recovered, striking out LF-L Hideki Matsui and CF-S Bernie Williams while finishing the inning without allowing the Yankees to build on their one-run lead.

The next several innings proceeded as a pitchers' dual. Both sides managed a baserunner here and there but neither pitcher found themselves in a significant jam. New York interrupted the string of zeros on the scoreboard in the 6th, when 1B-L John Olerud smacked a line drive over the right field wall with C-S Jorge Posada on base after a walk. The two run homer put the Yankees up by a score of 3-0.

Boston sent RHP Mike Timlin out to the mound for the seventh. Two outs into the inning after Timlin gave up a single to Sheffield, the Red Sox put in LHP Alan Embree to face Matsui. Matsui also singled, but Embree successfully retired Williams to escape the inning without allowing New York to increase their lead.

RF-L Trot Nixon drove a ground ball into right field for a single to lead off the eighth, prompting the Yankees to replace Lieber with RHP Tom Gordon. After the change, C-S Jason Varitek dropped a fly ball into deep right field for a double, moving Nixon to third. When SS-R Orlando Cabrera hit a grounder to Jeter, New York traded an out for a run, throwing to first to get Cabrera while Nixon scored. 3B-S Bill Mueller then grounded out to second, advancing Varitek to third at which point the Yankees brought in RHP Mariano Rivera. Rivera struck out CF-L Johnny Damon, keeping Boston two runs back.

Posada opened the bottom of the eighth with a single, and after Olerud hit a long fly ball to the warning track for out one, the Red Sox sent RHP Keith Foulke to relieve Embree. Foulke proceeded to hit 2B-R Miguel Cairo in the left shoulder, strike out DH-L Kenny Lofton, and walk Jeter to load the bases. However, he escaped the jam when ARod hit a catchable fly to Nixon in right. Unfortunately for Boston fans, while LF-R Manny Ramirez managed a double in the ninth, Rivera prevented the Red Sox from scoring, so the Yankees won Game 2 by a score of 3-1.