6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Thunderstorms possible with a 90% chance of precipitation at game time, but the gates are open. In all the squalling about the billion-dollar palaces opening up this year in New York, why did nobody think to include a roofed stadium in their wish list?

Update: Via Halos Heaven, Game 6 has been postponed due to weather. Imagine.

AP says the reschedule time is 8:20 PM tomorrow.

Labels: angels, postseason, weather, yankees

Via David Pinto, a nor'easter is threatening to wreak havoc on the ALCS. Heavy rains starting Friday and lasting through the weekend are liable to cause Game 1 to be postponed.

Game 1 would be played on Saturday and Game 2 on Sunday, which is currently scheduled as an off-day. However, because the Angels vs. Yankees is a FOX series, the Commissioners Office will probably move the ALCS game to Sunday night so as not to coincide with the network’s 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. NFL telecasts.

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Right now, ALCS Game 3 in Anaheim is scheduled for 1 p.m. Eastern time on Monday. But if the teams play Sunday night, it would be doubtful that they also would be asked to fly cross-country and play Monday afternoon. So that game could be re-scheduled to Monday night, but the more likely probability is that Monday would become an off-day.

In that scenario, Games 3, 4 and 5 would be played on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. At present, there is an off-day on Wednesday. That off-day – without any postponements – was going to enable the Yankees to start Sabathia in Game 1, on short rest in Game 4 and – if it were necessary – on normal rest for Game 7.

However, under this schedule, if the Yankees went with a three-man rotation then not only would Sabathia have to pitch on short rest in both Games 4 and 7, but A.J. Burnett would have to pitch Game 5 on short rest, as well. And it is doubtful that the Yankees would want to have three games pitched on short rest or have Burnett go short at all.

Labels: angels, postseason, weather, yankees

No Magical Run This Year: Dodgers 7, Rockies 2

I have to admit that last year's run by the Rockies will live a long, long time as one of my most favorite baseball memories ever. Streaks like that aren't just rare, they're impossible; lose any one of several games and they're just another team that had a nice run late in the season, but too late. Game 163 doesn't happen, and neither do their NLDS or NLCS runs.

That's not happening for them this year; their luck on fifth starters ended, their run on health ended (Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton, and Matt Holliday have all spent substantial time on the DL), a lot of the things that went right for the team didn't break for them this year. Their young rotation (Ubaldo Jimenez in particular) has suffered in their sophomore year, and so when the Dodgers rolled into town, it wasn't much of a surprise to see them get clipped hard when they put Jeff Francis on the mound against Chad Billingsley. Francis is just about out of options, and the best case for him is a low-cost deal that sends him to Petco, where he can revive his fortunes and get a big contract with somebody else like the Rangers.

James Loney did most of his team-leading 3-RBI damage late, with a bases-clearing double. Chad Billingsley was darn good at altitude, giving up only a pair of runs (one a solo shot to Matt Holliday). A tag-team of relievers finished the game for the Dodgers without giving up a run.

With the win, the Dodgers stay 3.5 games over Arizona, whose 3-2 victory over Cincinnati marked the return of an effective Brandon Webb, who notched his 20th victory to lead the league. The Dodgers' magic number is down to 13.

Yahoo box • Dodgers recap

Drayton McLane's Selfishness

Why be so stubborn about playing at home? Forget the travel problems, forget the lights — Minute Maid Park itself survived Hurricane Ike intact — will the Astros even have any fans in the seats? They could have been at Miller Park or Turner Field had they elected to do so Friday morning when it was plain that no games would be played in Houston, yet he hemmed and hawed. He might have home field advantage now by default, but I'll be surprised if the stadium is more than half full.

Cards Throw In The Towel, Disable Carpenter And Ankiel

The St. Louis Cardinals have thrown in the towel and shut down starter Chris Carpenter and outfielder Rick Ankiel. Carpenter has a muscle strain in his shoulder, while Ankiel has a lingering abdominal injury. I do wonder whether their 10-2 loss to Pittsburgh had any effect on their decision-making.

Chisox Disable Joe Crede For The Season

On the heels of yet another rainout at U.S. Cellular, the White Sox have shut down Joe Crede for the season with the back troubles that have plagued him on and off throughout his tenure in Chicago.

The Sox also hope to get Paul Konerko back for the upcoming New York series.

Labels: astros, cardinals, cubs, dodgers, rockies, weather

• The Cubs/Astros series look like they're in pretty bad straits with Hurricane Ike. The Cub Reporter passes on an MLB.com report that the series will now move to "neutral" Milwaukee, something Astros infielder Mark Loretta immediately disputed: ""Milwaukee's kind of a home game for them, isn't it?" (It's called "Wrigley North" for a reason.) Another report earlier in the day indicated Atlanta was a possibility also, though it looks like that's fading. The 'Stros appear now to be stuck in Houston, as Houston airports closed at 2 pm Friday.
• Six games were rained out today, all with postseason implications; all six will be made up as doubleheaders tomorrow. The six were Brewers @ Phillies, Braves @ Mets, Cubs @ Astros, Twins @ Orioles, Rays @ Yankees, and Tigers @ White Sox. Since the Cubs and Astros won't play, two of the doubleheaders will be games already scheduled due to postponements already on the docket, marking the first time since August 4, 1974 that 20 games will be scheduled for one day. (Just for historical curiosity, the Angels were involved in two of them and lost both, road games at Kansas City.)

Labels: astros, braves, brewers, cubs, mets, orioles, phillies, postseason, rays, tigers, twins, weather, white sox, yankees

50% chance of rain tonight.

Update 7:41: Via the Rev, Weather Underground forecasts a 70% chance of rain at 8 PM.

Labels: angels, weather

Maybe so if forecasts of up to two inches of rain on Friday night come to pass.

Labels: angels, weather