Three 1-0 leads in the right direction...

Three games down, all in the favor I guessed. Too early to gloat, but it's nice to be a third of the way right to start off three series. The big one starts tomorrow, not because they're my pick to win it all, but because they're the biggest reason I watch baseball. Best of luck to the Astros, but you'll forgive my lack of sympathy if this isn't the year you win your first playoff series.

Big props to the Twins for playing all 9 innings against a dangerous Yankee team. I'll keep saying it until the Twins meet the Braves -- Pitching. Wins. Series. I'll shorten that to PWS, I think, since I'll be saying it a lot. Tremendous defense doesn't hurt either -- five double plays in nine innings is astounding, though it scares me that the Yankees seemed to always have a runner on in a 2-run game. Torii Hunter got his wish -- robbing A-Rod of extra bases (I'm still not convinced that ball would've gone over the fence, but it would've caused major damage even off the wall).

Sox handled the Angels -- that may not be as good a series as I thought it would be. Chalk that debacle, though, to the Angels pitching their top three guys in the last series of the season (which they had to win to make the playoffs, and this column, at all). I think Wednesday's Pedro-Colon matchup should be a much better indication of how tight this series will be. Vlad lived up to my expectation of being the wild card, though I didn't think he'd go 0-5 with 2 K's. He'll pick up the pace today, and it'll be a much better game. Though if Boston wins big again, hey, I picked the Sox, so no biggie. :)

Cards win 8-3, and it wasn't even THAT close. I don't think we'll see Gagne at all this series, esp. with former Yankees choker Weaver topping the mound Thursday night in Game 2. Here's hoping the redbirds get the hits out of their system by the NLCS -- I'll guess they put a 10-spot on the board in Game 2.

Red Sox win (1-0).
Cards win (1-0).
Twins win (1-0).

Let's get the 4th right Wednesday.