The start of tonight's Game 2 of the American League Division Series was delayed 40 minutes by a light rain. If the top of the first inning is any indication, the wait will be worth it. The Yankees took a 1-0 lead on Robinson Cano's two-out double off Wei-Yin Chen, who surrendered 21 runs in the first inning during the regular season. He remains something of a slow starter. Derek Jeter fell behind 0-2 and singled to right-center field. Ichiro Suzuki fell behind 0-2 and reached on an error...

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny took a huge gamble early in Game 2 of the series. Already down a game in the best-of-five National League Division Series and watching his game two starter Jaime Garcia struggle through the top of the second, Matheny opted to go to pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker and sit his starter down after just two innings. St. Louis scored four runs in that second frame and never looked back. Garcia's replacement, Lance Lynn, came on to go three innings and allowed two late...

ST. LOUIS - The Nationals will head back to D.C. needing to win two out of three games at home. And they'll do all they can to put the memory of this shellacking behind them. The Cardinals took Game 2 of the National League Division Series by a score of 12-4 today, evening the best-of-five series in what was close to a must-win game for them. After going down in order in the first inning, the Cards jumped all over Nationals pitching. They knocked Jordan Zimmermann from the game after just...

Tonight's live blog: Time to get started with tonight's live blog for Game 2 of the American League Division Series between the Orioles and Yankees. The Birds need a win to even the series after losing 7-2 last night. I hope many readers will post many questions and comments in here tonight. Keep 'em coming. Often. I mean it. Tonight the O's face their old friend Andy Pettitte. Since some of you feel we jinx the players when we post positive stats about them (even though that is our job,...

The Orioles still don't have a starter listed for a possible Game 4 on Thursday. The Yankees will start Phil Hughes. Nate McLouth has driven in two runs in each postseason game so far to become the sixth player to record consecutive multi-RBI games in Orioles postseason history, joining Mike Bordick, Todd Zeile, Kiko Garcia, Brooks Robinson and Boog Powell. The postseason may provide executive vice president Dan Duquette with more downtime than usual, since organizational meetings have been...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter went against the left-right percentages and decided to start Jim Thome against veteran southpaw Andy Pettitte. Showalter considered starting Thome against left-hander CC Sabathia last night, but used Lew Ford as his designated hitter. "Tough not playing him last night," Showalter said. "He's got his shin guards and his batting gloves on about three-fourths of that game last night. He had a good lather going. "It gives us a chance to be a little more...

ST. LOUIS - The first two innings of this game have been an exact replica of the first two innings yesterday. Only this time, it's the Cardinals with the wild left-handed starter with a pitch count over 50 and the Nationals missing the chance to put their opponent in a big early hole. Jordan Zimmermann got the Nats on the board in the second inning today, dropping a single into right field off Jamie Garcia after Zimmermann had faked a bunt and pulled the bat back. Ian Desmond, who was on...

Matt Wieters admitted today, he was not sure what he would see or feel when he walked into the Orioles clubhouse last night. How would the team react after such a difficult ninth inning? Was the clubhouse the same as it had been all year? "It actually was," Wieters said at a press conference this afternoon at Camden Yards. "I haven't experienced a playoff loss before, so you don't really know what to expect when you get back in the clubhouse but everybody was (like), 'It's one game,'...

ST. LOUIS - The Nationals will face Cardinals left-hander Jaime Garcia today, something that might have spelled bad news for Adam LaRoche in the past. Traditionally a significantly better hitter against right-handed pitching, the left-handed hitting LaRoche has really improved against lefties this season. Not only did he hit .268 against lefties this season, but he also had 11 home runs and an .825 OPS off southpaws in 188 plate appearances. When you factor in the sample size, those are...

Think the O's can slide past the Yankees in the American League Division Series? Excited about the prospect of an American League Championship Series date with the Tigers or Athletics? Then plan to be at a computer Tuesday at 10 a.m. when tickets to potential Games 3, 4 and 5 in Baltimore will go on sale to the general public exclusively online at www.orioles.com/postseason. The Orioles warn that ticket availability is expected to be limited and tickets could sell out quickly. The allotment...