bullpen to avoid a series sweep. Freddy Galvis hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning, and Ryan Howard had a bases-cleaning pinch double in the nin

Theres an important truth about the postseason that people sometimes fail to keep in mind: Come playoff time, every team is good.Its not enough to have a good lineup. Most playoff teams have a good lineup.Its not enough to have an ace starter. Most playoff teams have an ace starter.In the regular season, youll come across lopsided matchups, like the Chicago Cubs against the Cincinnati Reds. In October, all the margins narrow. As such, that leaves more room for luck. It also serves to make things more exciting.So the MLB playoffs start soon, and 10 solid rosters will compete for the World Series. Each team will have earned its berth. If you take one thing away from this, let it be that theyre all good enough to have a chance. There is no team in the playoffs that doesnt deserve a championship. With all that said, theyre not identically good. There are separators, and so there are favorites and underdogs.What Ive attempted to do is identify what you could call a contender as well as a pretender. Strong labels for sure, but there are teams that seem better than the perception and teams that seem worse. The Cubs are a clear favorite, but then, everybody knows that.With that, here are the result of my findings. Lets just say the National League playoff field looks a lot stronger than you might think, and a few American League teams could disappoint. Air Force 1 Wholesale . NBA officials ruled the court unplayable in the Bucks final exhibition game on Oct. 25 because players were slipping, and the game was cancelled midway through the first period. Air Force 1 Online . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. https://www.cheapairforce1outlet.com/air-force-1-green-outlet/ . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Air Force 1 2020 . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. Air Force 1 Red Outlet . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. LOS ANGELES -- Corey Seager gave the Dodgers quite a scare Wednesday in a 6-2 loss to the Phillies when he was hit by a pitch in the right wrist area and fell back in obvious pain.Fortunately for the Dodgers, Seager is expected to be OK. He has a bruised arm and will have X-rays as a precautionary measure.It hurt, Seager said. You dont ever really want to get hit. It hurt.Seager was hit by Elvis Araujos pitch in the sixth inning. Seager went down was attended to by a trainer, but stayed in the game. He doubled in his next at-bat, a shot to center in the eighth.Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked about his heart rate when he saw Seager go down.Not good, Roberts said. Thats as quick as Ive come out of the dugout in a long time. Im happy to see he was fine.Seager was 2 for 3 with a double. The Dodgers were rolling with Scott Kazmir on the mound, but the Phillies got to the bullpen to avoid a series sweep. Freddy Galvis hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning, and Ryan Howard had a bases-cleaning pinch double in the ninth against Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who was pitching to get in work even though the Dodgers trailed by one run.That was a situation where in talking to Kenley before the game, he really wanted to pitch regardless, Roberts said. Two days off and with the off day (Thursday), he wanted to pitch. In that situation, you get him work and also to keep them within one. I felt good about it.Jansen didnt want to give the ball up when Roberts went out to get him in the ninth.Hes a closer. He feels thats his inning and understandably so. For me, after giving up that double to Howard and throwing 26 pitches, I felt theres a certain point where theres not really much benefit ... You have him ready for Friday.Araujo (2-1) pitched one inning for the victory.Kazmir (9-6) struck out six and allowed four hits. He left after 100 pitches with two runners on and no outs in the seventh inning. The Dodgers bullpen wasted his quality start.I was able to make pitches when I needed to and had the changeup today, Kazmir said. That was good. Its a tough one. We wanted tto pull this one out and have a good off day.ddddddddddddn the seventh, Carlos Ruiz singled to left and Jimmy Paredes was walked on four pitches. Roberts opted to go to the bullpen. Grant Dayton struck out Tyler Goeddel, then gave up the home run to Galvis.If you look at what happened, it was a broken-bat hit and a couple of close pitches for a walk, Kazmir said. Still felt great out there, even late in the game like that.In the sixth inning, Seager and the newly acquired Josh Reddick botched a double-steal attempt. Reddick took responsibility for the miscue.It was supposed to be the patented double steal, and its been a long time since Ive attempted one of those, said Reddick, acquired from Oakland. It was kind of uncomfortable for me, but Ive got to make an adjustment and be better at that. Once I see him throw the ball to second Ive got to be able to go. Its a matter of learning and adapting and adjusting to that kind of play. Ill get my work in on it, and I wont make that mistake again.REDDICK UPDATEReddick is 5 for 32 with the Dodgers since being acquired from Oakland.Before the game, Roberts said about Reddicks slow offensive start: I have seen him as a very productive player for a long time. I think you can see the body language a little bit when you hit a ball hard, and it gets caught in left-center field or you square a ball up and the second baseman is there. Maybe a little bit of over-swinging, but hell be fine.UP NEXTPhillies: On Friday, RHP Jake Thompson (0-1, 12.46) will make his second major league start in a home series with the Colorado Rockies. In his debut last Saturday, Thompson allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings against the San Diego Padres.Dodgers: RHP Ross Stripling (3-3, 3.79) will make his second straight start Friday in place of Bud Norris, who is on the 15-day DL with a back strain. He threw five scoreless innings against Boston on Saturday. Prior to that, the rookie right-hander hadnt started a game since May 19. ' ' '