News and notes from around the playoffs:
- There's not much to report from the ALCS today, since Game 2 of the series was washed out yesterday. The game was actually postponed before a drop of rain fell on the Ballpark in Arlington: with the radar showing severe storms heading towards the stadium, Game 2 was called three-and-half hours before first pitch -- and when the scheduled start time rolled around, the threat of rain had all but evaporated.
- Regardless, the game was called off, which allows both teams to keep their rotations intact: Detroit's Max Scherzer will now have three days to recover from his relief outing in Game 5 of the ALDS, and Derek Holland will take the ball for the Rangers.
- Meanwhile, even with the unexpected off day there was still unwelcome news for the Tigers: already shorthanded in the outfield with the loss of Delmon Young, Detroit lost right-fielder Magglio Ordonez to a broken right ankle that will knock him out of the ALCS. Ordonez has had recurring problems with the ankle, and he apparently suffered the injury during pregame warmups on Saturday.
Yesterday's action:
- The threat of storms -- and the prospect of playing another stop-and-start game after Saturday's ALCS contest was twice interrupted by weather delays -- was enough to postpone Game 2 of the ALCS. Detroit and Texas will make up that game at 3:19 p.m. CDT today.
- Milwaukee used a six-run fifth inning -- fueled by a two-run double from Ryan Braun and two-run homers from Prince Fielder and Yuni Betancourt -- to claim a 9-6 win over St. Louis in Game 1 of the NLCS. Our recap is here.
The division series standings ended up like this:
- Detroit 3, New York 2.
- Texas 3, Tampa 1.
- Milwaukee 3, Arizona 2.
- St. Louis 3, Philadelphia 2.
And the LCS standings read like this:
- Texas 1, Detroit 0.
- Milwaukee 1, St. Louis 0.
On tap for today:
Tigers @ Rangers: Scherzer (15-9, 4.43) vs. Holland (16-5, 3.95) at 3:19 p.m. CDT (FOX)
Cards @ Brewers: Jackson (12-9, 3.79) vs. Marcum (13-7, 3.54) at 7:05 p.m. CDT (TBS)