What to expect in tonight's key baseball games

Not long ago everybody assumed the playoffs were set. Now we have two wild card spots, two teams tied for each spot, and four huge games tonight. Here is what to expect from each:

1. David Price will strike out 8+ Yankees

Yankees manager Joe Girardi hinted that his lineup will consist of mostly back-up players and that he will utilize a number of pitchers to scrap together nine innings. I like Price in a big game anyway, but especially at home against a weak lineup.

2. The Orioles and Red Sox will combine for over 15 runs

The pitching struggles for the Red Sox down the stretch have been well documented and they will continue through game 162. Jon Lester will go on short rest and the Orioles' hitters have been dialed in so far. The Red Sox hitters will do their part and try to mash their way to victory. Will that be enough?

3. The struggling Braves offense will finally produce

Charlie Manuel plans to use tonight's game to get various pitchers work before the postseason. Joe Blanton will come off of his lengthy injury to start and pitch a couple innings, followed by Cole Hamels and many others thereafter. These pitchers will not invest in those innings like they would a normal start, and the Braves will capitalize on that difference.

4. The Cardinals will lose a heartbreaker

On this night Tony LaRussa and his trigger-happy bullpen switches will spoil a predictably strong start by Chris Carpenter. With key injuries to Matt Holliday and Rafael Furcal, the Cardinals will let the Astros hang around and pay for it in the late innings.

The winners will be...

No one game playoffs tomorrow: Rays over Yankees, Orioles over Red Sox, Braves over Phillies, Astros over Cardinals

Why? Near the end of The Replacements, head coach Jimmy McGinty shouts the following inspirational speech:

"Up until now Dallas has not been afraid of you, and they should be because you have a very powerful weapon working for you. There is no tomorrow for you, and that makes you all very dangerous people!"

Which brings us to the Orioles and the Astros. Anybody who watched the end of last night's Red Sox victory saw Orioles outfielders Nick Markakis and Adam Jones both give their team incredible at-bats, even if they resulted in outs. Players like Astros third baseman Jimmy Paredes have the chance to be impact players in what would normally be a typical September audition. Buy into the cliche: this is their World Series and they will play way above their normal level of intensity in hopes of being the spoiler.

Meanwhile, the Phillies and Yankees are taking the night off, giving guys light workloads to stay fine-tuned for the playoffs. Joe Girardi and Charlie Manuel have already decided how to manage tonight's games and it will make no difference to them if it is a close game or if the playoff fate of another team is on the line.

On paper the match-ups appear to favor the Red Sox and Cardinals. Don't be fooled, because the Phillies and Yankees teams who will be favored in the playoffs aren't showing up tonight.

Links about tonight's games

Cliff Corcoran previews the games http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/cliff_corcoran/09/28/regular.season.finale.preview/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t12_a2

Jonah Keri looks back at last night's games and previews tonight's http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/5139/a-sneak-preview-to-mlbs-second-season

Who the Rays will face tonight http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/28/yankees-giving-september-call-up-dellin-betances-his-first-start-tonight-against-rays/

A.J. Perez on whether or not the Braves and Red Sox are actually "choking" http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/atlanta-braves-boston-red-sox-choking-or-just-not-good-enough-092811

NFL Preview 2011

x - wildcard team

AFC EAST
1. New England Patriots - because of Tom Brady and their depth
2. New York Jets x - because of their defense
3. Miami Dolphins - because Reggie Bush is not an every down back
4. Buffalo Bills - because they're the Bills

AFC SOUTH
1. Houston Texans - because somebody has to win this division
2. Indianapolis Colts - because even without Peyton they are better than the other two
3. Tennessee Titans - because the franchise is quietly a mess
4. Jacksonville Jaguars - because Luke McCown is the week 1 quarterback

AFC NORTH
1. Pittsburgh Steelers - because their offense is catching up to their terrifying defense
2. Baltimore Ravens x - because Ray Lewis doesn't age
3. Cleveland Browns - because Peyton Hillis and Colt McCoy are gritty, gutty, (insert white athlete cliche)...
4. Cincinnati Bengals - because Mike Brown is one of the five worst owners in sports

AFC WEST
1. San Diego Chargers - because they have way more talent than the rest of this division
2. Oakland Raiders - because they have a lot of skill players who now have experience
3. Kansas City Chiefs - because they will crash back to Earth
4. Denver Broncos - because it will take more than one year to recover from McDaniels

NFC EAST
1. Dallas Cowboys - because they will put it all together
2. Philadelphia Eagles x - because they cannot protect Michael Vick
3. Washington Redskins - because Mike Shanahan will get the running game going
4. New York Giants - because they will really quit on Tom Coughlin this year

NFC SOUTH
1. New Orleans Saints - because Sean Payton and Drew Brees get it done
2. Atlanta Falcons x - because their roster has no glaring holes
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - because it's not fair they have to play in this division
4. Carolina Panthers - because an NFC south schedule is wicked

NFC NORTH
1. Green Bay Packers - because they improved on the team that won the Super Bowl
2. Minnesota Vikings - because people forgot that they have a talented roster
3. Detroit Lions - because the offense will be explosive
4. Chicago Bears - because their defense will come back to the middle of the pack

NFC WEST
1. St. Louis Rams - because they have a sneaky good defense
2. San Francisco 49ers - because somebody has to get second place
3. Arizona Cardinals - because somebody has to get third place
4. Seattle Seahawks - because Tarvaris Jackson is playing quarterback

PLAYOFFS
AFC WILDCARD ROUND - Patriots (3) over Ravens (6), Jets (5) over Texans (4)
NFC WILDCARD ROUND - Cowboys (3) over Falcons (6), Rams (4) over Eagles (5)
Quick thoughts: Patriots win big, Jets win a tight game with their defense. For the second year in a row, I have the Cowboys getting over the hump. I am not an Eagles believer with their weaknesses on both lines.

AFC DIVISIONAL ROUND - Chargers (2) over Patriots (3), Steelers (1) over Jets (5)
NFC DIVISIONAL ROUND - Cowboys (3) over Saints (2), Packers (1) over Rams (4)
Quick thoughts: Because everybody but the Cowboys has been there before, and that matters more this season because of the lockout.

AFC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP - Steelers (1) over Chargers (2)
NFC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP - Packers (1) over Cowboys (3)

SUPER BOWL - Packers over Steelers (again)


Quick thoughts: A loss in the conference championship round is the max for a Norm Turner coached team. Whether or not you like them, it's hard not to be all in on the Packers from a football perspective.

LINKS TO OTHER NFL PREDICTIONS


Sports Illustrated - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/nfl/09/01/season.predictions/index.html?sct=nfl_t11_a4

Pro Football Talk - http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/08/one-stop-shopping-for-pfts-season-preview/

Grantland - http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6949127/the-ultimate-nfl-preview