Andy Pettitte is facing the Orioles tonight. Hold on, this might be an old notebook. Nope, it's the one I've used this summer. Pettitte is starting Game 2 of the American League Division Series. Does this mean Roger Clemens goes in Game 3? The Orioles haven't faced Pettitte since he decided to make a comeback this season. The only player who's had an at-bat against him is Omar Quintanilla, while he was playing for the Mets, but he's not on the Division Series roster. Pettitte is 27-6...

ST. LOUIS - Danny Espinosa battled a bone bruise in his left shoulder down the stretch this season, an injury that really put him in a rut at the plate. The Nationals' second baseman got a cortisone shot on Sept. 17, and it helped him turn things around for a stretch, as he hit .400 over his next seven games. Over his final nine regular season contests, however, Espinosa's struggles returned. He batted just .103 with 12 strikeouts in 29 at-bats, and then went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts...

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University men's basketball team will have 11 games carried on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), with five non-league games and six BIG EAST Conference games airing on the official network for the Hoyas. Highlighted conference games that will air on MASN include the BIG EAST opener at Marquette on Saturday, Jan. 5 (2 p.m.). Other games include home contests against Providence on Wednesday, Jan. 16 (7 pm.), against Seton Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 30 (7 p.m.)...

ST. LOUIS - Except for the pitchers, the lineups for today's Game 2 of the best-of-five National League Division Series at Busch Stadium are exactly the same as those from Game 1. Here's the Nationals batting order that will face St. Louis' Jaime Garcia: RF Jayson Werth CF Bryce Harper 3B Ryan Zimmerman 1B Adam LaRoche LF Michael Morse SS Ian Desmond 2B Danny Espinosa C Kurt Suzuki P Jordan Zimmermann Zimmermann will face this lineup from the Cardinals: CF Jon Jay RF Carlos Beltran LF...

Jim Thome is the voice of experience in the Orioles clubhouse. When it comes to playoff games, that is certainly true. He has played in 67 in his career. The rest of the players in the O's clubhouse had a total of 58 going into Game 1 of the American League Division Series. Thome was asked how crucial tonight's game is as the Orioles try to even this series. "We just play one game at a time. We don't look two games ahead," Thome said. "They've got a very good ball club, we know that...

Winning Game 1 on the road Sunday was the best-case scenario for the playoff-infant Nationals. The 3-2 comeback victory set the tone in a short series. But these are the world champion St. Louis Cardinals, and they have been in this position before. Last season, the Cardinals lost Game 1 in both the National League Division Series and the Championship Series. A look back at how the Cardinals' first two series last season ended gives you an idea of the comeback potential of this team....

With Friday's win deep in the heart of Texas, the Orioles thrust themselves into a showdown with the hated New York Yankees in the American League Division Series. When most people think of a New York team in the postseason, it seems that the natural opponent or rival always seems to be their Boston counterpart. It always seems that people want to see Knicks/Celtics, Rangers/Bruins, and of course Yankees/Red Sox. What most people don't know or remember is that Baltimore and New York have a...

If you go back over the Orioles' last five games, their offense has produced just 12 runs in that stretch. But is that because they are struggling at the plate now at such a critical time or just because they've faced some very good pitching? In those five games - starting with the Tampa Bay series - the Orioles are batting just .170 as a team with four doubles and three homers. In September, the Orioles hit .270 as a team with an OPS of .806. They averaged 5.46 runs per game and hit 47...

ST. LOUIS - Just a couple days ago, there was talk that going on the road to start the postseason was a disadvantage for the Nationals. Instead of starting at home, the top-seeded Nats have their first two National League Division Series games here in St. Louis because of MLB's scheduling quirks, and that was thought to be a negative. Some fans worried that if the Nats dropped both games in St. Louis, they'd suddenly return home with their backs against the wall, with a sweep staring them...

You probably didn't recognize Jim Johnson last night, since he wasn't pitching in a save situation and he wasn't churning out another drama-free inning. (OK, the same thing happened Friday night in the wild card game, though with much better results. Just work with me here.) It was like an imposter stole Johnson's No. 43 jersey and his entrance music. But that was Darren O'Day in the seventh. I'd know his delivery anywhere, and his knack for escaping jams that have been dumped at his...