Homers help Hamels, Phils win Game 1  —  Ibanez, Ruiz go deep; lefty stumbles after early success  —  LOS ANGELES — Raul Ibanez came up huge Thursday in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.  —  The Phillies had been clinging …

Free agency looms for John Lackey (Cont.)  —  • Pitching guru Rick Peterson may have a couple options.  He has interviewed with the Brewers to become their pitching coach, and his close relationship with Willie Randolph from their days together with the Mets before they got fired together makes that a natural fit.

Abreu rejects Angels' $16 million offer … The Angels offered outfielder Bobby Abreu a two-year contract extension for about $16 million, SI.com has learned.  However, Abreu did not accept the offer and is believed to be looking for more after helping to lead the Angels to the ALCS against the Yankees.

Sox trying to re-work Saito deal  —  The Red Sox are currently involved in a procedural matter with reliever Takashi Saito's contract which would allow them to re-sign the right-hander but for less than the $6 million on his 2010 option, according to a major league source familiar with the deal.

Martinez to start Game 2  —  Pedro Martinez will start for the Phillies in Game 2 of the NLCS.  —  “It's a good ballpark for him,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.  “He likes the moment.  I actually like him better in this game than I did in the fourth game.”  —  Martinez

PostCards: Is it time to trade Albert Pujols?  —  TOWER GROVE — The first edition of this offseason's PostCards mailbag begins with a favorite parlor game of the press box: Take the best player on the team.  Put him on the trading block.  Wonder just what it would take in return to make a deal happen.

Guzman added, Burnett in Game 2 (and a live chat tonight!)  —  Still in the interview room where Joe Girardi just announced that Freddy Guzman has been added to the roster in place of Eric Hinske.  —  Also, A.J. Burnett is starting Game 2.  Andy Pettitte in Game 3.  Game 4 is TBA.

Strasburg ready for Arizona Fall League debut  —  PHOENIX — Wearing a gray Washington Nationals No. 37 jersey and blue jeans, Stephen Strasburg looked forward to his debut today in the Arizona Fall League for the Phoenix Desert Dogs.  —  Strasburg said Thursday he is not planning to change …

Byrnes has meeting on future with D-backs  —  Popular but oft-injured outfielder entering final year of contract  —  PHOENIX — D-backs general manager Josh Byrnes and manager A.J. Hinch had breakfast with Eric Byrnes on Wednesday.  —  On the menu was the outfielder's future in Arizona.

ALCS Smackdown: Angels vs. Yankees  —  The Los Angeles Angels, champions of the AL West, and the New York Yankees, champions of the AL East, are about ready to step into the ring to battle for the American League Championship, or what some refer to as the heavyweight championship of Major League Baseball.

Reflective Yost interviews with Astros  —  Ex-Brewers manager certainly remembers tenure's end  —  MILWAUKEE — Former Brewers manager Ned Yost has had 13 months to mull what went wrong in Milwaukee, and he broke a long period of relative silence Thursday after interviewing to be the next skipper of the Houston Astros.

Ouch - those postseason odds  —  On a high school team, I'd be running laps.  —  In Lord Nelson's navy, I'd be flogged.  —  Let this be a lesson to everyone to use good coding practices, even if the code is just for yourself, and no one else is going to see it.

Superstitious Yanks cling to their good-luck charms  —  For Nick Swisher, it's a broken Yankees gnome in his locker.  For Jose Molina, a hand-drawn picture of a bunny.  For Jorge Posada, a quote from the Bible.  —  They're the trinkets, geegaws and personal items adorning the Bombers' lockers …