On Sunday night, San Francisco Giants center fielder Andres Torres became the first player in the 2010 postseason to notch a golden sombrero. For those out there who are unfamiliar with such terminology, a golden sombrero is the illustrious four-strikeout game.

Torres, who is no stranger to the sombrero, struck out against Philadelphia Phillies starter Roy Oswalt in each of his four plate appearances in Game 2, which Philadelphia ultimately won 6-1. In his first three at bats, Torres was blown away by Oswalt’s overpowering fastball; in his final at bat, Oswalt dropped a nasty, backdoor curve on the Giants leadoff hitter, making the sombrero official.

Of Oswalt’s nine strikeouts in the game, Torres was responsible for four of them.

The Golden Sombrero presents MLB Look-alikes: Cliff Lee and Hugh Laurie

Today on The Baseball Show, I had no other choice but to console Clint after his Reds heartbreaking defeat last night in Philly.  Don’t worry, he comes around as the show progresses. You can follow Clint & Diamond Hoggers on Twitter here.

As painful as our first discussion was regarding the Reds/Phillies series, we managed to work in plenty of quality baseball talk today:

-Full reaction and heartbreak of Game 2 last night between the Phillies and Reds

-Braves & Giants breakdown

-Preview of today’s ALDS games

-Guest appearances by Delino DeShields, Mark Prior, Brad Fulmer and Matt Holliday’s groin.

After six long months and 162 grueling games (not including spring training) the Major League Baseball playoffs are finally once again upon us. The competition has been whittled away to the cream of the crop and now only the guys who have strung together enough consistency, heart, and luck over the last half year are facing off head to head. Only one more month watching baseball and then it’s on to basketball season and things have already gotten off to a hot start.

First of all, big ups to Philadelphia Philly Roy Halladay. The guy hurled his second no hitter of the season and the first playoff no-no since Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Mercenary ace Cliff Lee also showed up and did his thing in game one for the Rangers against Tampa Bay. Lee gave up only one run in seven innings and struck out ten batters. These were then followed up on Thursday night with Tim Lincecum’s two hit, fourteen K performance in the Giants opening game against the NL wild card Atlanta Braves. Viva la smallball!

Continue Reading ‘Great Pitching Dominates the Start of the MLB Playoffs’>>

For those who might not have had the opportunity to listen to “The Baseball Show” on Monday or Tuesday, here are our predictions for the League Division Series:

San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves:

Clint: Giants in 4 games

Mike: Giants in 4 games

Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies:

Clint: Reds in 5

Mike: Phillies in 5

Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Clint: Rays in 4

Mike: Rays in 5

Minnesota Twins vs. New York Yankees:

Clint: Yankees in 5

Mike: Yankees in 5