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The Race For the World Series Heats UpAs the NLCS and ALCS get ready to kick-off, it signifies the race for the World Series is close enough to taste. Who do you think’s going to represent their respective league? In the National League, you have the red-hot Colorado Rockies going against the steady and reliable Arizona Diamondbacks, while the American League sees the Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox square of for their right to go to MLB’s grand finale.Who ya got? From what I’ve seen, the majority of the picks involve the Rockies and the Red Sox squaring off for the World Title, however, it would be very unwise to overlook both the Diamondback and the Indians. Cleveland is fresh off a dominating ALDS win over what was the hottest team in baseball in the New York Yankees. The Cleveland victory was so dominant, it took many pundits by surprise and that’s why they shouldn’t be forgotten when going up against the Red Sox. Of course, Boston is playing their best baseball at the moment with Manny Ramirez back and a dominant Josh Beckett pitching. It should be a great series. Both teams have pitching and hitting so this series will come down to who makes the least mistakes. For some reason, I like Cleveland to advance. As I mentioned, the two NL teams fighting for a World Series berth are the Rockies and the Diamondbacks. The Rockies are incredibly hot, having won 17 of their last 18, including a decisive sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are young, hungry team that has quality pitching and very good hitting. The leaders of the Rockies are Todd Helton and MVP candidate Matt Holliday. However, it wouldn’t be smart to overlook their pitching either. Jeff Francis is a 17-game winner and their bullpen is stout as well. On the other hand, the Diamondbacks have a reputation of winning with smoke and mirrors, but don’t let Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb here you say that. The Diamondbacks may not be the sexy power hitters like the Rockies or the Red Sox but they do one thing well: win. As long as their pitching and fielding holds and as long as they continue to get timely hits, the Diamondbacks are going to be a tough out for all of the remaining teams. The NLCS started last night with the Diamondbacks falling to the Rockies by a score of 5-1. Francis was masterful, pitching 6 and 1/3rd innings and only giving up one run. The Rockies bullpen was just as good, shutting the Diamondbacks out for the remainder of the game. Game 2 starts tonight at 10pm EST. The ALCS also begins tonight in Boston with Josh Beckett going for the Sox and CC Sabathia going for the Indians and once again I ask: Who ya got? Chris Richardson is the full-time purveyor of the soon-to-be-launched IntentionalFoul.com sports blog.
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