Top News:
Bill Chastain / MLB.com:
Phillies name Pedro Game 3 starter — Veteran of Red Sox-Yankees battles goes in pivotal game — Pedro Martinez, Boston's warhorse in four postseasons from 1998-2004, was named by Phillies manager Charlie Manuel on Friday to be the starter in Saturday's Game 3 of the National League Division Series in Colorado.
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Brian McTaggart / MLB.com:
TBS enjoying postseason boom — Viewership up 15 percent after first two days of play — TBS has enjoyed a boom in viewership in the first two days of the Major League Baseball Division Series, with ratings up 15 percent over the first two days of last year's playoffs, based on numbers released by Nielsen Media Research.
Benjamin Hochman / Denver Post:
Phillies' Martinez to start Game 3 vs. Rockies — Pedro Martinez will start game 3 for the Phillies at Coors Field on Saturday, manager Charlie Manuel said today. Manuel said JA Happ is a possible choice to start Game 4 on Sunday. Manuel likes Martinez's track record in the postseason …
Associated Press:
Teixeira's 11th-inning walk-off HR lifts Yankees to 2-0 lead — NEW YORK (AP) — Mark Teixeira (FSY) hit a leadoff homer in the 11th inning to give the New York Yankees a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night and 2-0 lead in their AL playoff series. — GAME REPORT: Yankees 4, Twins 3 (11 inn.)
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, The Heater, Circling The Bases, Twinkie Town, NBCSports.com and USA Today
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Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:
Teixeira beats Twins in 11 after A-Rod ties it — Two innings after Alex Rodriguez authored his signature Yankees moment, Mark Teixeira wrote his own. — The first baseman drilled a line drive solo homer to left field to lead off the 11th inning, giving the Yankees a memorable 4-3 win …
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley
Sam Borden / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
ALDS Game 2: Twins at Yankees — YANKEES — Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (13-9, 4.04 ERA regular season) — TWINS — Pitching: RHP Nick Blackburn (11-11, 4.03 ERA regular season) — WEATHER: Mostly cloudy and cool with showers in the forecast during the evening.
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Mike DiGiovanna / Los Angeles Times:
Angels show there's no hex factor in 5-0 win over Boston — Torii Hunter's three-run home run and John Lackey's superb outing give them a 1-0 series lead over their playoff nemesis. — Don't bring any talk of a “hex” by Torii Hunter's locker. That was the center fielder's stern message …
Discussion:
Surviving Grady
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John Manuel / Baseball America:
Eastern League Top 20 Prospects — To be eligible for a league's list, a pitcher must have thrown 1/3 inning for each team game or have made 20 appearances (10 in short-season and rookie-level leagues). Hitters need one plate appearance for each team game.
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Chuck Finder / PBC Blog:
Alvarez EL's top prospect, Lincoln and Tabata also ranked in Top 15 — In yet another edition of The Future Is Coming, The Future Is Coming, the franchise with the advanced-Class A champion in Lynchburg also has three of the Top 15 prospects in Class AA's Eastern League according to Baseball America today — and Pedro Alvarez is No. 1.
Curt Schilling / 38 Pitches:
Why C.B. Bucknor is not a good umpire — How you know he's a bad ump: — 1. Umpires that are in consistent spats with coaches, players. — Both coaches and players, for the most part, understand the job is hard as hell while hoping they (the umpires) know it's the height of competition, adrenalin and testosterone during a game.
Discussion:
NESN.com
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Michael Buteau / Bloomberg:
What's Good for Jeter Is Good for Baseball; Yankees Aid Revenue — Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) — High above Interstate 85 in downtown Atlanta, Derek Jeter peers down from a 3,500 square-foot electronic billboard erected near the headquarters of Turner Broadcasting Systems, signaling the start of Major League Baseball's postseason.
Discussion:
Circling The Bases
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Joe Sheehan / Unfiltered:
Pop Quiz — Over the years, many Baseball Prospectus staffers have been hired away by major-league teams, which is a source of pride for us. We've gained a reputation as being a source of bright, dedicated people whose approach to baseball can be of considerable value to front offices …
Discussion:
THE BOOK
Brian Costa / New Jersey Online:
A.J. Burnett gets advice from Andy Pettitte as he prepares for first playoff start … RELATED CONTENT — Video: Yankees beat writer Marc Carig and columnist Steve Politi preview ALDS Game 2 — Politi: Matsui keeps getting big hits, but are his days in Pinstripes numbered?
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Ken Gurnick / MLB.com:
LA finalizes Garland trade, deals Abreu — Infielder is player to be named in Aug. 31 pact with D-backs — ST. LOUIS — The Dodgers finalized the acquisition of Jon Garland on Friday, sending switch-hitting infielder Tony Abreu to Arizona as the player to be named in the Aug. 31 trade.
Polls / Brew Beat:
Peterson confirms interest in Brewers job — Rick Peterson honored the code of silence imposed by Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and declined to say whether he had interviewed to be Milwaukee's next pitching coach. But Peterson didn't hide his strong interest in the job.
