Yankees in 3
The Tigers led the AL Central almost all season before a season ending sweep at the hand of the 100-loss Royals saw them drop out and into a match up with the Yankees.
The Yankees are the last team the Tigers wanted to see, in the regular season the Yankees handled the Tigers easily winning 5 of 7 as Mariano Rivera was not available in their 2 losses, game in which the Bullpen lost 9th Inning leads.
# Look for the young Tigers to appear intimidated by the vaunted Bronx Bombers as the Yankees win without breaking a sweat, sweeping the slumping Tigers in 3.
Twins in 5
Johan Santana has been dominant in the Metrodome not losing at home in the second half. The Twins have also been dominant at home winning a MLB best 51 games.
The Twins have also showed to be dominant in the postseason when the homer hankies tart waving. While the Athletics show that money ball does fizzles in the first round.
Look for the A’s to fizzle again as the Twins powered by two starts from Johnan Santana at the Metrodome take the series in 5 games.
Mets in 4
The Mets enter the playoffs with questions about their pitching rotation, as Pedro Martinez is lost to a Rotator Cuff Injury. However, the Mets have barely had Pedro available all year, as the lineup and the bullpen have been what has truly carried the team.
Talent wise this match up wont even be close as the Mets line up, will light up the scoreboard while the bullpen slams the door.
In fact it will be the bullpen that will be the key in this series as the Mets pen will be able to shorten games to 6 innings, while the Dodgers pen has been a weakness, especially after losing both Eric Gagne and Denys Baez.
In the end it will be the Mets taking care of business in 4 games.
Padres in 5
The Cardinals are thanking their lucky stars today. Losers of 10 of their last 13 they almost saw an eight and half game lead totally evaporate. Had the Astros in fact won just one more game the Cards would have been forced to play a make up game, the very definition of backing into the playoffs.
The Padres on the other hand had to fight their way in and played strong baseball down the stretch, even earning home field in this series.
A major reason for the Cardinals struggle was injuries, and they are not getting healthier, as Starter Mark Mulder, and Closer Jason Isringhuaen are both lost for the postseason, while Jim Edmonds is still felling the effects of a concussion.
Look for the home field to make the final difference as the Padres win in 5.
Predictions Made 10/2/06 at 11:20 pm EST
