MLB Extravaganza from the DMan Cave, Game 1: Rangers defeat Rays, 4-3

It's a huge day in Major League Baseball with four postseason games on tap. In Game 1, the Rangers defeated the Rays, 4-3, to advance to ALCS.

It's a huge day in Major League Baseball with four postseason games on tap. Get Dennis Manoloff's keen observations as he watches all four games back-to-back-to-back-to-back, blogging and tweeting @dmansworldpd along the way.

Rangers vs. Rays kicks off today's quadruple-header.

Today's games:

Texas at Tampa Bay, Game 4, 2:07 p.m.

Philadelphia at St. Louis, Game 3, 5:07 p.m.

New York Yankees at Detroit, Game 4, 8:37 p.m.

Milwaukee at Arizona, Game 3, 9:35 p.m.

 

Some have the Man Cave.

Major League Baseball has the Fan Cave.

This is a combination -- pardon the third-person reference -- known as the DMan Cave, set up specifically for Oct. 4, when four straight playoff games will take place. (Yes, there also was a quadrupleheader last Saturday, but I was tied up all day.) 

For baseball fanatics such as I, it doesn't get much better -- unless, of course, the Indians are involved. Then again, nobody can be in two places at once, let alone four.

The plan is to watch all the games on television and blog/tweet about the experience. Beyond that, it's open to interpretation. I do know this: The vast majority of the blogs/posts will pertain to baseball; only occasionally will I mention whether my eyes are bleeding.

In addition to commenting on the games and the eight teams involved, I want to talk Indians. As backup to the great Paul Hoynes on the Indians beat, I watched every game in-person or on TV, and the Tribe's 80-82 season remains fresh. I will periodically fire off nuggets pertaining to Tribe 2011 and answer questions posed by tweeps.

Predictions as of 1:35 p.m.:

Rays beat Rangers to force Game 5 @ Texas. The pitching matchup (Hellickson, Rays, vs. Harrison, Rangers) tilts to the Rays. I like Hellickson a lot. Tribe fans know all too well how relentless Texas's lineup is, but Tampa Bay did not run down the Red Sox in September just to get bounced in four games of the opening round.

Cardinals beat Phillies to take 2-1 lead. Today is where my upset special, St. Louis, takes command of the series. The Cardinals are loose, coming off having knocked around Cliff Lee, and are playing at home. Albert Pujols is 4-for-23 against Phillies lefty Cole Hamels, but Pujols will be the difference.

Tigers beat Yankees to win series. The Tigers send out Rick Porcello, who certainly is capable of getting lit up; all the Yankees need to do is watch tape of Tribe hitters against him.  But Porcello can relax because the Tigers won Monday, and because he knows he is a different pitcher at home. Most importantly, the Yankees are countering with the erratic Burnett on the road. This will mean the Yankees and their monster payroll go home without a World Series ring for the 10th time in the last 11 years.

Diamondbacks beat Brewers to pull within 2-1. My Brewers will win the series, but not before encountering a speed bump on the road against Arizona pitching coach Charlie Nagy and Co.

Game 1 result

Rangers 4, Rays 3

Adrian Beltre homered in each of his first three at-bats as the Rangers defeated the Rays, 4-3, in St. Petersburg, Fla., to advance to the ALCS for the second straight year. Ian Kinsler led off the game with a homer.

Tampa Bay also lost to Texas in the ALDS last year. In those two series, the Rays went 0-5 at home.

Beltre became the sixth player to homer three times in a postseason game. Babe Ruth did it twice.

The Rays scored once in the ninth against closer Neftali Feliz and had a runner on first with one out. Matt Joyce popped to third baseman Beltre and Desmond Jennings grounded into a force at second.

 

Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2011/10/mlb_extravaganza_from_the_dman.html

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