Friday, October 8, 2010

Playoff Patter

-- The Giants beat the Braves 1-0 as Tim Lincecum tossed a two-hitter and struck out 14 in his postseason debut to outduel veteran Derek Lowe.

-- The Yanks continued on their merry way with a 5-2 win over the Twins, putting them up 2-0 in the series. Andy Pettite's arm and Lance Berkman's bat led the way for New York, which now heads back to the Big Apple.

-- Texas went up 2-0 on the Rays with a 6-0 win, primed by CJ Wilson's pitching and Michael Young's three run homer. Like the Yanks, they're going home with the series already well in hand.

-- Last year saw a number of missed calls during the playoffs by the umps; it's continuing this season. The most obvious of a handful of questionable decisions already made this post-season was Buster Posey being called safe on a steal of second when he was out; he scored the only run in a 1-0 Giant victory.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports addresses the issue with his piece "Bad Calls By Umps Marring Post Season." he's not alone; virtually every national sports site has an article on the umping gaffes, and we're only two games into the playoffs.

-- Add another log to the PED flames: Kim Briggeman of the Missoulian wrote that sportscaster Brent Musburger told a journalism class that "I think under the proper care and doctor's advice, they (steroids) could be used at the professional level," careful to differentiate between amateur and pro players' usage.

"I think it's going to be up to the medical profession to finally come out and say, now how much damage are we doing to these guys? Let's go find out. What do the doctors actually think about anabolic steroids and the use by athletes? Don't have a preconceived notion that this is right or this is wrong," he told the aspiring writers.

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