Tuesday, FanHouse had the opportunity to discuss the MLB Playoffs with Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, who currently serves as a studio analyst for TBS. TBS will be broadcasting all four Division Series and also the NLCS again this season. Ernie Johnson is the studio host while Dennis Eckersley and David Wells join Ripken as studio analysts for these playoff games.
Of all the things Ripken discussed Tuesday, the most intriguing subject, not surprisingly, was one Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod is an oft-maligned regular season superstar, in that he's put up extremely gaudy regular season numbers throughout his career, yet has never played in a World Series and has pretty sub-par numbers in the playoffs overall -- especially of late.
The Rockies announced Tuesday that starter Jorge de la Rosa will miss the NLDS with a sore groin. He suffered the injury on Saturday and manager Jim Tracy said before Colorado's workout day that the training staff informed him that de la Rosa's injury isn't progressing, though his season isn't necessarily over if the Rockies play deeper into October.
"He was scheduled to throw a bullpen today. We're not even going to take that chance. We're not going to have him do that. We're going to continue working with him," Tracy said. "If we're fortunate to advance beyond here, could he end up in the mix and be a guy that could be considered for a League Championship Series if we're fortunate enough to get there? I think that's definitely a viable possibility."
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the final day of the regular season has arrived and there are still two meaningful baseball games to be played. There would have been three if the Dodgers hadn't snapped their five-game losing streak by beating the Rockies, clinching the National League West and relegating the Rockies to the wild card.
Meanwhile, the Tigers kept sliding and the Twins kept climbing. Minnesota's 5-4 victory over Kansas City and Detroit's 5-1 loss to the White Sox left the two teams dead even. The Tigers had been alone in first since July 24.
If it's not settled on Sunday -- the Tigers host the White Sox at 1:05 PM ET and the Twins host the Royals at 2:10 PM ET -- the teams will meet on Tuesday at 5 PM ET at the Metrodome to determine who goes on and who goes home.
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hours before the Giants and Rockies met on a baseball field for the final time this regular season, Rockies manager Jim Tracy was comparing the matchup to a bout with a couple fighters slugging away at each other.
Lots of blood, but no knockout.
The game on Wednesday night fit right in with the pattern, although the Giants are now perilously close to being down for the count. The Rockies' 4-3 victory, a game that ended only after the Giants had scored three times in the ninth and put the tying run on third, gave the Rockies a 3 1/2-game lead in the National League wild-card race.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That the Yankees are still fired up despite their large lead in the AL East.
After two Yankees pitchers hit Blue Jays batters in Tuesday's game, Toronto's Jesse Carlson threw behind Jorge Posada in the bottom of the eighth.
Posada glared, benches briefly emptied, but there were no punches. Yet.
Instead of letting it end there, or charging the mound, Posada waited until he walked and then scored a run to give Carlson a shove after he crossed home plate.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday -- it's running Friday this week.
Earlier this week, Brad Lidge's nightmare 2009 season continued, when he allowed a walk-off homer to Andrew McCutchen. Ed Price covered the outing the following morning. The abysmal performance by the Phillies' closer underlines the only weakness of the defending World Series Champions.
Aaron Cook left Friday night's game early with soreness in his shoulder. He had given up four earned runs and walked two in just three innings before being pulled. The extent of the injury is unknown at this time.
He'll be re-evaluated Saturday but at the minimum will miss his next start, manager Jim Tracy said.
He [Cook] said the team doctor was cautiously optimistic he wasn't seriously injured but that he wouldn't know for sure until the swelling subsides.
"Hopefully it's just one of those things that came on real quick and we can get rid of it real quick," said Cook.
Even though Cook had won ten games this season, his 4.47 ERA has kept his fantasy baseball ownership at low level. But, 42% of fantasy GM's did have Cook on their roster. Let's talk about what to do now.
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the Stream Team, where we tab pitchers that are likely to help you in your quest for fantasy gold.
We had a recent comment bashing the strategy of streaming. While I do agree that the practice of streaming doesn't mimic real-life baseball at all, in many fantasy leagues it's permissible and encouraged. To be honest, the majority of leagues I play in don't allow for streaming, as we have inning limits in some, weekly lineups in others, and transaction limits in most.
If you're in the anti-streaming camp, I suggest you compete in leagues with these types of rules in place, thereby maximizing the fun you're likely to have. When it comes down to it, the fun factor is the most important aspect of the game. I really enjoy the ownership groups in all my leagues, so I'm more than willing to play by any rules and tailor my strategy to each.
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the Stream Team, where we tab pitchers that are likely to help you in your quest for fantasy gold.
On Saturday, San Diego rookie Mat Latos pitched yet another gem, allowing one run in six innings while striking out seven. The Padres' offense gave the kid enough support to earn another win.
Sunday, Brett Anderson coasted through six innings before running into some trouble in the seventh, where he allowed three straight hits before exiting the game. All three runners eventually scored, so Anderson wound up with a bit of a pedestrian line. At least he gave the Team another win, our sixth in August.
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the Stream Team, where we tab pitchers that are likely to help you in your quest for fantasy gold.
Tonight's a big night for Chris Tillman, my spot-start pick for today. He'll be battling Zack Greinke and the Royals in his first major-league start; make sure you tune in and see the youngster in action. Marc Rzepczynski was our pick last night, and he was cruising through five innings before allowing a couple runs in the sixth and departing. We'll take the eight strikeouts, even if the ERA was a little high.
Tuesday, FanHouse had the opportunity to discuss the MLB Playoffs with Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, who currently serves as a studio analyst for TBS. TBS will be broadcasting all four Division Series and also the NLCS again this season. Ernie Johnson is the studio host while Dennis Eckersley and David Wells join Ripken as studio analysts for these playoff games. 
The 
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hours before the 
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the 
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the 
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the 
