Stars und Sternchen! » The trend would repeat itself once more

The 2013 World Series hasnt even started and many are already dubbing this MLB post-season to be the "Year of the Pitcher." No team has managed to score better than three runs more than once in the League Championship round, with each club pitching a shutout in the opening three games. So, whats behind this years pitching dominance? The first and most obvious factor is sheer talent. Each of the four remaining playoff teams boast a blend of ace talent and veteran presence that has led to individual pitchers stepping up and tossing gem after gem to will their teams toward a pennant. Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Jake Peavy and Zack Greinke all have Cy Young Awards on their resumes. Max Scherzer is very likely to join that group once the 2013 hardware gets handed out, while Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright led the NL in wins and logged more innings than any other pitcher during the regular season. But its not just those pitchers – lest we forget David Prices Wild Card game heroics, Anibal Sanchez near-no-hitter or the efforts of Red Sox vets John Lackey and Jon Lester – that are forming the narrative. Rookies like Michael Wacha, Hyun-Jun Ryu and Sonny Gray have all tossed gems that have pushed the "Year of the Pitcher" to the forefront. While Verlander would eventually get the better of Gray in the decisive NLDS game and Ryu essentially is a rookie in name only (being 26 and a veteran of seven dominant seasons in Korea), Wacha has certainly emerged as one of Octobers biggest stars. Drafted just over a year ago – 19th overall by the Cards in 2012 – Wacha has taken a huge leap forward this fall, flirting with a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLDS and following that up with a six-plus-inning shutout performance to power a 1-0 NLCS Game 2 Cardinals win over Kershaw. It would be an easy fix to just flat-out state that the pitching has been that good, but its not like these starters have been facing inferior lineups. All four of these teams have the potential to be offensive juggernauts, with the Red Sox, Tigers and Cardinals having finished top-three in runs scored in 2013. All four teams can boast of game-breaking bats in their line-up, from Miguel "Triple Crown" Cabrera to the playoff pedigree of David Ortiz, clutch performers like Carlos Beltran and David Freese to break-out stars like Yasiel Puig. But still, the Red Sox 1-0 win on Tuesday marked the fourth of this years post-season, tying a record for most 1-0 games in a single post-season since the dawn of the LCS era, previously set in 1991 with all four involving the Atlanta Braves three-headed monster of Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Steve Avery. History might tell us that its just a recurring trend swinging back the pitchers way. Since the inception of the League Championship Series MVP Awards in 1977 (NL) and 1980 (AL), starting pitchers seem to claim the award in clusters. Of the 10 pitchers that have won ALCS MVP there have been three separate occasions of three pitchers winning the award in a five-year span or less. More pitchers have claimed the NLCS MVP Award (12), but those wins, too have come largely thanks to three- and four-year spans of pitching dominance. Whats even more curious is that those spans basically overlap. Between 1990 and 1995 a starting pitcher won the LCS MVP six out of 10 times. Between 1997 and 2001 starters again took six of 10. The trend would repeat itself once more between 2005 and 2009. Since 2009, however, no starting pitcher has won either the LCS or World Series MVP Award. Is this season just the start of another cycle? Regardless of why its happening, the starting pitchers appear to be on a collective roll this October and were only just past the half-way point of the month. What do you think is behind this post-seasons pitching dominance? As always, its Your! Call. Jim Plunkett Jersey . The Tournament of Champions, which starts Friday, is his first event since a freak accident in Shanghai two months ago. Snedeker was on a Segway scooter during a corporate outing at Sheshan International when he took a tumble and injured his left knee. http://www.officialraidersgear.com/Raiders-Reggie-Nelson-Draft-Jersey/ . -- Arizona pitcher Bronson Arroyo is expected to miss a week to 10 days because of a back injury. http://www.officialraidersgear.com/Raide...h-Draft-Jersey/. Dillon Brooks scored 26 points on 9-17 shooting for Canada while pulling down six rebounds and picking up six steals. Teammate Chris Egi had 20 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. http://www.officialraidersgear.com/Raiders-Obi-Melifonwu-Draft-Jersey/ . Ronaldo failed to connect on an ample number of opportunities at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. But Karim Benzema and Jese Rodriguez scored in each half for Madrid to come out of the first leg with the firm advantage. Dwayne Harris Jersey .Brady threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Julian Edelman midway through the fourth quarter, and New England beat the San Diego Chargers 23-14 for its eighth win in nine games. NEW YORK -- This win was three years in the making for backup goalie Ray Emery and the rest of the Philadelphia Flyers. Emery stood in again for injured No. 1 netminder Steve Mason and made 31 saves to help the Flyers rally from an early two-goal deficit and beat the New York Rangers 4-2 on Sunday to even the first-round playoff series. The Flyers had lost nine straight at Madison Square Garden, including 4-1 in the series opener on Thursday, since their last win there on Feb. 20, 2011. Emery hadnt won a post-season game anywhere in exactly three years for Anaheim at Nashville. "I try to stay even-keeled, whether its going well or you dont get off to the start you want," the 31-year-old Emery said. "I play with a system in there, and I just kind of rely on that. Ive had leads before and Ive been down before so its just kind of a consistent approach." Luke Schenn scored the go-ahead goal in the second period after Jakub Voracek and Jason Akeson got the Flyers even at 2. Wayne Simmonds sealed the win with a power-play, empty-net goal. Now the Flyers head home, where they went 2-0 against the Rangers in the regular season. Game 3 is on Tuesday. Philadelphia no longer has to hear about its skid in New York in which the Flyers were outscored 35-10 and never had more than two goals in any game. "Thats a huge weight off our shoulders, to come in here and get the split," Schenn said. "Going back home, we feel a bit better about ourselves." Voracek brought the Flyers within 2-1 in the first after Martin St. Louis and Benoit Pouliot staked New York to its lead. Emery did the rest, looking especially sharp in the second and third periods. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 21 shots after a 14-save winning effort in the opener. "They came back pretty strong late in the first, and then in the second period a lot better," Lundqvist said. "Going into the third we felt confident we could tie it. The tide turned in the second when the Flyers caught up and went ahead despite being outshot 17-9. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault called that period his teams best of the day. "The game can be funny sometimes," he said. "We had some Grade A chances. Our power play had some great looks. They scored two and we didnt." Akeson tied it with a power-play goal 5:45 in off a rebound of Brayden Schenns shot for his second career NHL tally. It was a day of redemption for the 23-year-old Akeson, plaaying his fourth NHL game.dddddddddddd His double high-sticking penalty in Game 1 led to two Rangers goals that turned a 1-1 game into a 3-1 deficit in the third. Flyers coach Craig Berube didnt consider benching him for Game 2. "Should I sit out everybody that takes a penalty?" Berube asked. "I understand he took a four-minute penalty, but he played well. It was a mistake, and you have to learn from them. Hes a good player." Philadelphia grabbed its second lead of the series with 8:42 left in the second during a delayed penalty. Michael Raffl brought the puck in on the right side and got it to Adam Hall for a shot. Luke Schenn then put in the rebound. The Rangers chance for a comeback was thwarted by a penalty for too many men with 1:18 left that led to Simmonds goal with 25.4 seconds remaining. Unlike in Game 1, the Flyers had the puck much more often and did a better job of closing off the Rangers passing lanes after the early deficit. However, they continued their undisciplined ways that cost them in the opener. The Flyers killed their first penalty after Simmonds held Ryan McDonagh in the offensive zone at 1:04, but they allowed one power-play goal and were short-handed three times in the first. Overall, the Flyers killed five of six power plays. New York took a 1-0 lead at 4:08 after a crisp passing sequence. Rick Nash came in with speed on the left side and moved the puck into the middle to Derek Stepan, who sent a pass into the right circle to St. Louis for a one-timer he punctuated with a fist pump. St. Louis, who had only one goal and seven assists with the Rangers in 19 regular-season games after being acquired from Tampa Bay, scored at the Garden for the first time since the trade for former captain Ryan Callahan. St. Louis has a goal and two assists in this series. The Rangers made it 2-0 at 8:22 with their third power-play goal in two games. More precision passing in the Philadelphia end by Mats Zuccarello and Derick Brassard set up another one-timer from the right side, this time by Pouliot, who got enough of the puck to put it past Emery. The Flyers got one back on a strong move by Voracek, who skated around defenceman Ryan McDonagh on the backhand and tucked in a forehand with 5:46 left. NOTES: Emery is 21-16 in career playoff games. ... Akesons only other goal was scored April 23, 2013, at Ottawa. ... The Rangers had two potential power plays negated by embellishment calls. 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