ALDS/NLDS: Who Ya Got?!

So in a couple of minutes the 2011 MLB Playoffs will be under way.  After an unforgettable Wednesday night of baseball, it is about time the Playoffs are here.  There was one blowout on Wednesday that sealed another day for the St.Louis Cardinals.  They soon found out that they were the 2011 NL Wild Card winners after the Braves rookie closer, Craig Kimbrel, blew a one run lead in the ninth.  The Phillies went on to beat them with a bloop single by Hunter Pence in extras.  The Boston Red Sox also blew a lead in the 9th inning.  With two outs, Papelbon was rocked for a RBI double and an RBI game-winning single that should have been caught.  Exactly 3 minutes later, after coming back from 7-0, Evan Longoria of the Rays hit a walk-off HR in the bottom of the 11th inning against the AL East Division Champion Yankees.

The resilient Rays will face off against the ALWest Division Champs Texas Rangers today at 5:30.  The Rays send out the rookie Matt Moore against C.J. Wilson.  The later game is the Detroit Tigers against the New York Yankees.  The soon to be Cy Young Award winner, Justin Verlander, will go up against the Yankees ace, C.C. Sabathia.  In the National League, the Phillies will throw Roy Halladay and the St. Louis Cardinals will throw Kyle Lohse.  The Arizona D'Backs will throw ex-Yankee great, Ian Kennedy.

This year's playoffs promises to be exciting.  I hope it is more exciting that this past week's Wednesday night of baseball.  Here are my predictions.....

The Texas Rangers will go on and win the series in  5 games against the Tampa Bay Rays.  Their pitching staff is much better than the Rays and the Rangers give their pitching staff plenty of run support.

The New York Yankees might lose game 1 but win win the series also in 5 games.  While the Tigers have Justin Verlander, the Yankees are a better hitting team and have a great bullpen to shut down their opponents.

The Phillies will have no problem in the NLDS.  The starting rotation is way to tough to beat.  The Phillies will win in 4 games.

For the final match up, I'm going with the Brew Crew in 5 games.  While the D'Backs have good pitching, the Brewers have the edge in starting pitchers and have a better lineup.

So there are my predictions.  Let me know Who Ya Got?!