Baseball Digest Daily

LOS ANGELES DODGERS (88-74) VS. NEW YORK METS (97-65)
RHP DEREK LOWE (16-8, 3.63) VS. RHP JOHN MAINE (6-5, 3.60)

ORLANDO HERNANDEZ UPDATE: Righthanded pitcher Orlando Hernandez underwent an MRI yesterday at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery…The MRI revealed that Hernandez suffered a Grade 2 proximal gastroc tear of the right calf…El Duque will not be on the Mets NL
Division Series roster…Righthanded pitcher John Maine will start in his place.

METS IN FIVE-GAME SERIES: The Mets are 4-0 in five-game post-season series, winning the 1969 NLCS vs. Atlanta, 1973 NLCS vs. Cincinnati, 1999 NLDS vs. Arizona and 2000 NLDS vs. San Francisco.

STAY HOT – The Dodgers won their final seven games of the season and nine of their last 10 contests. From July 27 through the end of the year, Los Angeles went 41-19, the best winning
percentage (.683) in the Major Leagues during that span. Oakland went 41-20, while the Phillies were 40-24.

Pregame Quotes...

Q. Are you starting to feed off the excitement here? Tomorrow night, will you feel comfortable?
DEREK LOWE: Yeah, I truly love and have always loved pitching in New York. I haven't always had success, but, you know, the crowds here are fantastic. You know what you're gonna get. So, again, having played in Yankee Stadium all those years, you learn how to deal with it, you learn how to deal with a hostile crowd and tomorrow is gonna be no different.

Q. Are you ready to give a starting lineup?
MANAGER WILLIE RANDOLPH: Yeah, I told the players already: Jose leading off, Lo Duca, Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Floyd, Green, Valentin.

Q. Of all the postseasons you have been in, as a player, coach or manager, have you encountered any situation that you can relate to this where you have one and possibly two of your starting pitchers injured?
MANAGER WILLIE RANDOLPH: No, I don't -- I was trying to think about that earlier. Things happen sometimes, and, you know, it's easy to kind of feel sorry for yourself but I have not allowed myself to do that. No, I don't really believe there's -- in the last week and a half, anything quite like this. We've had our injuries all year. Even now, guys are banged up here and there. That's always in your mind. But I can't say that I've experienced anything like this before, even as a coach or a player. But it is what it is. We're in the playoffs, man. I still feel real good about next month or so, so it's a little bit strange, a little bit different. But you have to react and actually adjust as you go. We're gonna do that, and we'll be fine.

(Notes and Quotes Courtesy of the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Major League Baseball)

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ALDS - Game 1 - Derek Jeter Yankees 8, Detroit Tigers 4

by Joe Hamrahi on Wed 04 Oct 2006 01:07 AM EDT

GAME ONE
2006 AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2006 (Courtesy of the New York Yankees)

NEW YORK YANKEES NOTES
· The Yankees made their 12th consecutive Division-Series appearance…are now 8-4 in the first game of their 12 straight ALDS appearances.
· Scored five runs in the third inning, the most runs the Yankees have scored in a single inning in postseason play since they also scored five in the fourth hit game in a 19-8 win vs. the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Game Three of the 2004 ALCS.
· SS Derek Jeter (5-for-5) recorded five hits in tonight’s game, tying the Major-League record for hits in a postseason game (now done six times)…became the first player to record five hits in a postseason game since Hideki Matsui had five hits in Game Three of the ALCS on 10/16/04 at Boston…increased his all-time postseason record for career hits to 147, his all-time Division-Series record for hits to 64 and for DS singles to 47…played in the 43rd Division-Series game of his career, surpassing Chipper Jones (42) for sole possession of second place on the all-time list (behind only Bernie Williams, 47).
· Jeter hit his 17th career postseason home run, tying Jim Thome for fifth place on Baseball’s all-time post-season HR list…recorded his 48th career postseason RBI, tying Reggie Jackson and Manny Ramirez for third place on Baseball’s all-time list.
· RF Bobby Abreu (2-for-5) recorded his first career postseason extra-base hit and runs batted in with a two-run double in the third.
· DH Jason Giambi (1-for-1) hit the third home run of his career in Division-Series play, the seventh of his career in the postseason.
· RHP Chien-Ming Wang recorded the first postseason win of his career (is now 1-1)…became the first Taiwan-born pitcher to win a postseason game.
· MGR Joe Torre extended his Major-League record for career postseason victories to 75.

DETROIT TIGERS NOTES
· The Tigers made their first appearance in the Division Series and their first postseason appearance since losing the 1987 ALCS in five games.
· LHP Nate Robertson made the first appearance of his career in the postseason.

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