So It Seems We Have A Battle In The ALCS

Wow. It seems as if David Ortiz was serious when he said, "This is our f***in city!", the first game back from after the Boston Marathon bombings.

Not only did the Boston Red Sox rally to tie the Detroit Tigers but they did it in epic style. They rallied to load the bases for David Ortiz in the 8th inning. They were down 5-1 to Detroit and with one swing from Big Papi, who happened to be 0 for 6 in this series with 4 strikeouts, knocked a grand slam over the outstretched arm of Torii Hunter in right field to tie the game.

To top it off, the Sox continued a rally in the 9th which put Johnny Gomes on and with a walkoff single by Jarrod Saltalamacchia scoring Gomes, they tied the series and won the game, 6-5.

The Dodgers Look To Come Back From A Deficit At Home Tonight

Starting for the Dodgers tonight will be Hyun-Jin Ryu(14-8, 3.00 ERA) going up against the Cards' Adam Wainwright(19-9, 2.94 ERA). St. Louis has to know the Dodgers are dangerous at home. There are 3 games to look forward to at Dodger Stadium for the Boys in Blue. Focus and consistency should be their concentration. Ryu showed a little nerves in his last postseason start and if he can control that, he can be a serious threat to the Cards lineup. The Card's pitching staff is no joke when it comes to starters and Wainwright is a tough nut to crack. Nick Punto, having played with the Cardinals in 2011, said, "He(speaking of Wainwright) knows our backs are against the wall. We all know that. We know there's going to be a lot of pressure on us tomorrow night. But the Cardinals are going to have a lot of pressure on them, playing in front of 54,000 people. It's like a 10th man on the field for us, we know that. This place gets rocking. We're going to need that energy."

Hanley Ramirez says he wants to play but since being drilled by Joe Kelly's 95mph fastball in the ribcage, it's most likely to be a gametime decision. Andre Ethier, who played all of Game 1 and missed Game 2, most likely will not be ready for Game 3 of this series. Because of the microfracture in his lower leg, his baserunning ability and hitting for power is limited. Don Mattingly seems to be focused on utilizing the players he has to create the wins they need. "If Hanley's not playing and Andre's not playing and Matt [Kemp]'s not in, obviously, we're not the club we can be," said Mattingly. "But this time of the year, it's just not a time for excuses. At the end of the day, you either win or lose; that's the way our approach has to be. We've got to find a way to be able to do it with Hanley or without Hanley -- simple as that."

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