It's no surprise that I find both of these playoff series utterly captivating. I live in the Los Angeles area, so the action is taking place in my backyard every day, but there is something very "baseball" about a West Coast to East Coast ALCS (and a non-Red Sox/Yankees matchup; been there, done that) and a Dodgers/Phillies rematch. I attended today's NLCS game (hence the photos).

Media outlets everywhere are likely drooling over today's winners, hoping that games 2 and 1 are the first wins on the way to a Dodgers/Yankees series and all that comes with it. The Dodgers evened the NLCS today without benefit of a big hit, and the Yankees exploited some unusually sloppy Angels' play to take the first game of the ALCS.

Pedro Martinez, in what can only be described as an absolutely dominant performance, held the Dodgers to two hits and zero runs through seven innings, and was almost unhittable. I'm sure Manuel was loathe to take him out, but he was working on a pitch count. The Phillies bullpen was not nearly as good; although Utley's second huge throwing mistake in as many nights really gave the Dodgers the game.

On the other side of the mound, Vincente Padilla just about matched Pedro pitch for pitch; his only mistake here:

Howard is very good.

Howard's homerun in the fourth inning was Padilla's only blemish on his outing; he left in the eighth with one out. Kuo induced a huge DP to get the Dodgers to their half of the eighth inning ("Don't Stop Believing") only down a run. The Dodgers "rallied" back in the eighth inning off the bad-decision Chan Ho Park, where a leadoff single, a bunt single, a HUGE botched DP/E by Utley sent Juan Pierre home as the tying run. Thome singled to bring the go-ahead run to third with one out, and after Furcal walked to load the bases, Kemp struck out. Enter, ex-A Andre Ethier who....walked (dramatically, though).

Broxton got all three outs of the ninth, leaving Howard in the on-deck circle.

There was a little something for everyone at the game; Kobe was there, Jason Bateman waved at me, and of course, these guys sang the National Anthem and God Bless America.

And if you like fashion:

Nice suit.

So, across the country, while many Dodgers fans were waiting in the parking lot, the Yankees and CC Sabathia beat the Angels 4-1 in what was one of the sloppiest games I've seen the Angels play. Lackey wasn't especially sharp, but all four Yankees runs were scored on Angels' miscues; they committed 3 actual errors. I think we've found the solution for teams you don't like playing each other; hope one of them gives the game to the other. It was fun, if not a little boring.

Tomorrow's game (ALCS) is scheduled for 7:57 ET, but right now, with a 90% chance of rain from 2-9, it is in doubt.

We'll see you back here!