Two games for the price of one this afternoon. The Astros won because my buddy Kyle Farnsworth still doesn't have his head screwed on straight and despite Phil Garner's being roundly outmanaged by Bobby Cox. The Astros were completely out of both bullpen arms and position players, plus they had two weak-hitting catchers in the lineup, one playing out of position at first. But thanks to the heroics of Chris Burke and Roger Clemens, the Braves go home after the first round. Again. All around Atlanta, Tuesday morning's water cooler conversations will be...whether the Falcons can somehow put Matt Schaub and Mike Vick in the same backfield, and how high the Bulldogs can climb. It's not a baseball town, folks.

Although he sure looked slick in the first few innings, it appears as if Shawn Chacon will not be a postseason hero for the Yankees, at least tonight. Thank goodness for small favors. Dan O'Dowd's master plan to sabotage his career having failed, Chacon is ready to settle down and pitch several productive years as the #3 guy on playoff teams. There's no good reason why he couldn't have fulfilled this function for the Rockies except the Colorado franchise's ongoing mismanagement and exaggerated poverty. But, we're going to try to take a few weeks off from ragging on the Rockies' management for the playoffs. There will be a whole offseason for that in due time.

It's the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium, and the Angels and their good bullpen hold a one-run lead over New York and their poor bullpen. Will both championship series start as scheduled on Tuesday? We shall see.