The pitching of Colby Lewis and the hitting of Vladimir Guerrero and Nelson Cruz powered the Texas Rangers to a 6-1 ALCS triumph over the New York Yankees — sending the Arlington Nine to their first-ever world series. Lewis was nearly flawless in eight innings of work, giving up just three hits in eight innings, while striking out seven. A Vlad Guerrero double and Nelson Cruz home run accounted for five of the six Rangers’ runs. Josh Hamilton, who went 7 for 20 in the series, won the ALCS MVP award. Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter summed up the problems the Empire had in defeating the Rangers: “They overall played better,” he said. “They pitched better, they hit better, they just outplayed us. That’s just the bottom line. They were a lot better than us these six games.” The Rangers’ clinching win was emblamatic of the Yankees’ problems: the New Yorkers were shut down by Rangers’ pitching, going 8 for 53 with runners in scoring position in the six game series.

The Rangers, built for the post season by G.M. Jon Daniels, are much like the patched together San Francisco Giants — picked to contend in the A.L. West, Daniels traded for and signed a mix of down-and-out pitchers (Lewis came from Japan) and on-their-last-legs hitters (Guerrero was cut loose from the Angels). But the key to the Rangers success was the mid-season trade for fireballer Cliff Lee, who arrived from Seattle in a trade for four Rangers minor leaguers, including uber prospect Justin Smoak. The recriminations have already started in New York, with Yankee G.M. Brian Cashman taking the blame for his failure to land Lee, whom New York writers cite as the one obstacle that stood between the Yankees and their 28th world championship. Texas will start Lee on Wednesday against the winner of the Philadelphia-San Francisco series.

Can The Giants Beat Roy Oswalt? One of the more memorable games of the Nationals’ 2010 campaign took place back in May in Houston — when the Nationals faced-off against the Astros during an early season road trip. While the Nationals were playing well, there were signs the team was beginning to struggle: the Anacostia Nine had just dropped two of three to the Friars, after dropping two of three in San Francisco. Nationals’ hitters were desperate to get their bats going. Ironically, it was Roy Oswalt who gave them the opportunity. In one of the more lopsided wins of their disappointing season, the Nats plated 14 runs against the ‘Stros, while lighting up Oswalt, who was ejected in the third inning for arguing balls and strikes. Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn were the heroes, accounting for eight RBIs in the victory. But the key to the triumph was Oswalt’s in-game implosion, the result of a tight strike zone. The lesson seems obvious: to beat Oswalt you have to get to him early — which will be a challenge for the light hitting San Francisco line-up.

The Philadelphia Phillies-San Francisco Giants NLCS is now a nasty confrontation — as an angry and glaring Roy Halladay and an equally irritated Pat “the Bat” Burrell exchanged looks and words in the first inning of Game Five. Halladay stared in at umpire Jeff Nelson and Burrell noticed: “What are you looking at?” he yelled. The Halladay-Burrell mini-confrontation is symbolic of how these two teams feel about each other, as was apparent even in Game One, when Halladay tossed Cody Ross’s broken bat to the ground instead of handing it to him. Such simple discourtesies are noticed in baseball: the NLCS isn’t your back yard. For Halladay, the winner of the tilt’s fifth game in San Francisco on Thursday (and for Burrell as well) such exchanges are all about “the competition,” but we might expect more of the same at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday: “the competition” is becoming heated, the games more intense, the reward a spot in the World Series against the AL champ.

“This sounds like a non-story,” one Phillies fan reflected. “Burrell has struck out so many times in his career that he should know the drill by now — go sit down and shut up.” But in the pages of the Philadelphia Daily News (that model of journalistic excellence), Phillies’ fans are gearing up to give Burrell a typical Philadelphia welcome when the series resumes on Saturday. “In explicit, vulgar terms, with a reference to Halladay’s possible Oedipal issues, Burrell rhetorically asked Halladay what he was looking at.” Halladay was less confrontational: “You understand,” he said, “there’s a lot of emotions obviously at this point in this season. He’s a competitior and these things happen.” Well, okay. But “these things” are happening with some regularity now, as Tim Lincecum channeled Burrell in the 7th, staring down Jimmy Rollins at third as he stalked from the mound: “You stay there,” he yelled. “You stay there.” Lincecum’s words weren’t enough to keep Philadelphia from a must-win in the fifth game — and now the series returns to Philadelphia, where the Giants will send Jonathan Sanchez to the mound against Roy Oswalt. Phillies’ fans will be ready.

The Philadelphia Phillies face elimination tonight in the NLCS, as the Ponies dropped a nine inning thriller in San Francisco, 6-5. While Juan Uribe is credited with the walk off sacrifice fly that won the game, Buster Posey (4-5, two RBIs and .313 in the playoffs) was the San Francisco hero — unless, of course, you credit the lack of production of the Phillies (2 for 22 with runners in scoring position) and their more-than-average bullpen for the loss. The Phillies are now bitten with the same bug that plagued them throughout the season: they go for long stretches without being able to muster key hits or runs, counting on their front line pitching to carry them through the tough games. Then too, Philadelphia’s less-than-vaunted bullpen was, er — less than vaunted: Chad Durbin’s post-season ERA now reads 18.00. Oh The Humanity: a team that spent seven months looking for runs is outhitting and outscoring a team that is (or was) an offensive machine.

Fans of the Ponies are starting to lose hope — and for good reason. While Roy Halladay starts tonight against Tim Lincecum, it’s more than possible that the holder of two no hitters over the last seven months will go down as the loser in two playoff games in the same year; it will be the first time that has happened in MLB history. But even if Halladay pitches brilliantly, the Phillies will have to win two more. Sweeping the Giants the rest of the way (which is what the Phils will have to do to win) isn’t impossible, but given Philadelphia’s Great Collapsing Bullpen (Madson is unhittable, but he’s the only one), top-of-the-order famine (Victorino’s hitting .200, Utley an embarrassing .133), and swing-from-the-heels habits (11 strikeouts yesterday, three hits and seven Ks against Cain), that seems unlikely. Even Jayson Werth, the key to the Phillies’ attack (.250 in four games, two left on base last night), is stuck in neutral. This is a real deal, this-looks-like-July, Phillies’ slump.

Phillies’ fans agree — things don’t look good. Phillies Nation called Wednesday’s tilt “the most heart wrenching loss” of the season, The Good Phight described the loss as “a game of bullpen catastrophes large and small,” Beerleaguer said that the game represented a “cavalcade of carelessness,” while Fightin Phillies viewed Charlie Manuel’s decision to bring Roy Oswalt in to pitch the 9th as sure evidence that the manager has lost faith in Brad Lidge. “We just have to win now,” Phils shortstop Jimmy Rollins says. “We’ve got good pitchers. They can shut teams down. We’ve seen them shut teams down, especially when times get tough. They seem to get better. I think we’re going to get their best.” That’s right. But after Wednesday’s loss it’s an open question whether Philadelphia’s best will be good enough.

Texas lefty Cliff Lee should know: Washington is a great place to settle down and raise your kids, a wonderful city filled with monuments and parks and good restaurants. As for the high cost of living, the Lerners should be able to take care of that. While free agency is still a long ways off, on Monday night in New York, Cliff Lee showed why he’s not only the premier free agent pitcher for 2011, but the best southpaw in baseball. In eight innings of work, Lee gave up just two hits, struck out 13 and held the Yankees scoreless over eight innings in hurling the Texas Rangers into a 2-1 game lead in the ALCS. “Awesome,” Texas outfielder Nelson Cruz said. “It’s unbelievable … he’s pitching at the highest level possible.” Lee threw 122 pitches, 82 of them for strikes, in taming the Yankee line-up. This was no fluke — Lee struck out Derek Jeter three times and Mark Teixeira twice and was so dominating that Rangers’ hitters were almost a sidelight. Still, the Rangers accounted for eight runs in routing the Empire, as Josh Hamilton (2-5, two RBIs) and Michael Young (3-5, .400 in the post season) showed why they’re among the most dangerous hitters in baseball. “This is one of those games you try to forget about as soon as possible,” Yankee captain Jeter said after the Texas win.

The arm of Roy Oswalt and the bat of Jimmy Rollins gave the Philadelphia Phillies a 6-1 win at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, knotting the NLCS at one game apiece. Oswalt’s performance was just what Philadelphia needed, after the Giants defeated the Phillies in the NLCS opener on Saturday. The former Houston righty dominated the Giants’ line-up, giving up only three hits in eight innings while striking out nine. The game also marked a sweet retribution, of sorts, for struggling Phillies’ shortstop Jimmy Rollins, whose 7th inning double off the right field wall plated three and gave Rollins four RBIs for the night. Rollins — who has been fighting injuries — had trouble throughout the 2010 campaign, hitting just .243 while missing over 70 regular season games. The series now heads to San Francisco, where Philadelphia and San Francisco’s third set of starters (Matt Cain and Cole Hamels) will face off on Tuesday.

Those Are The Details, Now For The Headlines: We belatedly note that the Internet Baseball Writers Association (Washington, D.C. Chapter) has published their 2010 Player Acheivement Awards. As voters in this polling, CFG notes with pride that Ryan Zimmerman was named the winner of the Goose Goselin Award for Most Valuable Player, Livan Hernandez won the Walter Johnson Starting Pitcher of the Year Award and Adam Dunn won the Frank Howard Slugger of the Year Award. Arguably, Adam Dunn could have easily outpolled Ryan Zimmerman for the Goselin Award. He was our choice . . . Our thanks for the Association for its continued good work and to Dave Nichols for organizing this . . .there’s a lot of chatter in the “Natsmosphere” about whether the Nats might be contenders in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes. Lee would give the Nationals something they’ve never had: a front line strikeout pitcher who could give the team a once-every-four-days outing that would make the team an automatic .500 contender in the soft N.L. East. But is it possible . . . ?

Our bet here is that Mike Rizzo will use a gaggle of prospects to land a middle-of-the-pack starter, eschewing an expensive arm like Lee. Still, such a trade could yield a surprise — the landing of a former front line pitcher (Gil Meche, for instance — though he’s still owed $11 million) who needs a change of scene. There are no easy pickins: Zack Greinke is said to be available, but you can bet he’ll be expensive and, like Meche, he’s owed a sack of money ($27 million over the next two years). Or the Nats could fish for someone who’s worn out their home welcome, but could be straightened out. Someone like A.J. Burnett, who’s at the end of the line in New York, but still has the stuff necessary to be a front-of-the-rotation guy. Working through the possibilities shows you just how limited Rizzo’s options actually are. Take Burnett. He’s aging, very expensive and can block any proposed trade. And if the Nats came up in any discussions we assume he would . . .

We’re still partial to Jon Garland. Garland wouldn’t cost an all-in; the problem is that he wants to stay on the left coast and he’s been a good addition in San Diego. So if what’s available in terms of pitching is just too expensive and you have a bit of money, what would you do? Our guess is that if you were to play the odds, you might want to bet that Mike Rizzo would find the possibility of signing someone like Carl Crawford, a free agent sparkplug who would fit in nicely in D.C., very tempting. Signing Crawford would make a player like Josh Willingham available on the market, in exchange for a solid arm or top prospect. Then too, Crawford is a star: aggressive, fast and dedicated, a player who could be a centerpiece in the outfield. Given the dirth of attractive free agent starting pitchers, bidding for Crawford makes sense; there’s little doubt that Crawford would put people in the seats.  Then too — and given that the Nationals probably will not sign Adam Dunn — the front office would have the money to land the soon-to-be former Ray, whose arrival would compensate for the loss of one of the team’s most popular players . . .Zimmerman and Crawford and Strasburg, oh my . . .

Phillies’ fans were in fine form at “The Bank” on Saturday night, whistling derisively every time that Tim Lincecum came to the plate (“you forgot your skateboard”), picking away at the gaggle of orange and black clad fans grouped along the third base line (“is that the color of your panties?), and hooting the Phillie Phanatic’s pantomime of a ’60s hit (“Are You Going To San Francisco?”), that featured the disrobing of a Giants-clad hookah toker. But the Phillies’ faithful could not reverse the final score (a 4-3 Gigante squeaker) made possible by Lincecum’s steady seven inning performance, Cody Ross’s two home runs, and Brian Wilson’s five-up-four-down blow-it-by-em save. It must have been a humbling experience for the Broad Street Bombasts: by the bottom of the 8th, even the most feverish Phillie follower had to admit that in the battle of Bullies vs. Hippies, the scales had tipped decisively in favor of the pantywaists. “My God. You know, we’ve just got to bench Jimmy Rollins. He can’t hit anything. Charlie’s gotta sit him down.”

After the game, San Francisco ace Lincecum made light of the whistling that greeted his every plate appearance. The hooting wolf whistles (“you sure are pretty, Timmy”) from the City of Brotherly Catcalls didn’t bother him, he said. “I was thinking, ‘I must have a nice butt, or something,’” he laughed, then added: “Those Phillies fans must like something about me. I took it as a joke.” Well, maybe: but for Lincecum to say that he “must have a nice butt” would be Fightin’ Words in South Philly — where such jokes are made very privately. If. At. All. The hand-lettered made-in-the-kitchen signs (Wanna Smoke?”) that greeted Lincecum’s appearance seemed less than welcoming (“Hippy Trash”), in keeping with Philly fandom’s habit of picking fights simply for the sake of it: “Fix Your Teeth,” one said; while another (just a few rows over), evinced the struggle its author had with creativity: “You Stink!”

In truth, while the made-for-TV pitcher’s duel ended up being something less-than, it was Roy (“Doctober”) Halladay who struggled, while Lincecum proved more than capable (113 pitches, 71 for strikes). Halladay’s thigh-high fastballs didn’t impress Marlin import Cody Ross, a former rodeo cowpoke who planted two of them unceremoniously in the left field stands. And Halladay struggled in the 6th, giving up a double to the roundly booed Pat Burrell, a former Philly whose career has been revitalized by his steady play for Bochy’s Bashers. Burrell’s double angered Halladay, who complained that his third pitch on an 0-2 count should have been a strike. But Halladay wasn’t alone in his complaints, as the strike zone shrank as the game went on, so much so that a similar get-em-across offering from Lincecum to Jayson Werth resulted in an unnecessary two run shot. But that’s all that Philadelphia would get, as Brian “Beach Boy” Wilson (97 on the gun) set down five Ashburns on four strikeouts for the save.

The Wisdom Of Section 131 — Philadelphia Edition: There were dozens (but only dozens) of San Francisco hats at Citizens Bank Park, but only one “Curly W” from Washington. The appearance of the “W” brought puzzled looks and a few jabbing comments: “You’re kidding, right?” There was a suspicious squint and then a shrug: “Don’t worry pal, you guys’ll get here. You got that Strasburg guy and I hear you have a beautiful ball park.” Two rows up, and just behind the Giants dugout, a Philly fan (his Spiderman tattoos covered biceps the size of tires) reached out after the game, then stopped: “Am I shaking the hand of a Giants’ fan?” No, no. “Well, good,” he said. “And anyway. That was a heck-of-a-game.” So give them this: Philadelphia’s faithful know baseball. Between the 1st and 9th innings no one left for chili dogs or beers, but stayed riveted in their seats, snapping their white rally towels like a bunch of kids . . .

Philadelphia fandoms’ brutish approach might be a bit overdone, but the constant catcalls brought ushers down into the stands in the 6th, eyeing the environment like weathermen gauging an approaching storm. They herded the Giants’ faithful into the section’s first two rows, away from any offending comments. When a Phanatic (clad in a #26 Chase Utley jersey) seemed on the verge of picking a fight with a Giants fan sporting a large #27 on his back (Juan Marichal’s old number) — “Hey, number 27, sit down . . . do yourself a favor and just sit down . . .” — a Philly’s fan turned ominously in his seat and slowly shook his head, warning the offender. He got the message . . . Meanwhile, up under the stands in the middle of the game, a group of plainclothesman broke up a three-way fight, clapping the offenders in handcuffs, which brought a whining protest. “C’mon officer, Doc is pitching. Can’t you arrest me after the game?”

"Hey, number 27, do yourself a favor and just sit down . . ."