An MLB preview of sorts

After two really stinking long off days, MLB playoff action (there’s only one, remember…) resumes tonight.

Your pitching matchup for the night: Hamels vs. Lowe

More about them, their teams, the rest of the series, and the American League too…after the jump.

Last time out:
Hamels– 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, and the win.
Lowe– 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, and the win.

Fun Facts: 10 Things you Might Not Know about the Phillies.

Miss Minda’s thoughts: The Dodgers were completely unremarkable before the midseason acquisition of Angel Berroa. Whoops, I mean Manny Ramirez. Have GM Ned Colletti’s July deals bolstered the team enough to finish their postseason quest with the ultimate victory? It’s one thing to win the NL West, but 6 games over .500 might not cut it when facing the rest of baseball’s best teams.

However, it won’t hurt my feelings any if the Dodgers do stick around for more October ball. For one thing, I don’t care too much about the Phils, and for another, I really love Angel Berroa. Since he spent most of the last 2 seasons at AAA Omaha, I got to see him, laugh with him, and be pranked by him pretty much every day. I miss him and his bajillion-watt smile, but am happy that he gets this taste of postseason baseball – a shot he would never have had if he stayed in the Royals organization. Plus, he and Manny are like BFFs now, which is cute.

No srsly, they are so much alike. I wonder how hard it is to deal with TWO personalities like that.

On tap for tomorrow night is ALCS Game 1 between the Red Sawx and the (Devil) Rays.

Your pitching matchup: Dice-K vs. James Shields. What? Oh jeez, you perv.Ewwww.

Last time out:
Matsuzaka– 5.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, and a no-decision
Shields– 6.1 IP, 6H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, and the win

Fun facts: Only one player on the Rays playoff roster (Akinori Iwamura) has homered off of Dice-K this season. No Rays have homered more than once off him in his 2 MLB seasons combined. Dice-K has walked 11 batters in his postseason appearances.

Miss Minda’s Thoughts: These teams are probably sick of each other by now, right? They’ve played each other about a million times. There will probably be at least 2 Boston fans for every Rays fan at Tropicana Field tomorrow night. What will it take to make those St. Petersburgians care about their team?

Awww, Carlos Pena. How cute. Too bad nobody has passion for his team yet.