PLAYOFF PREVIEW - WORLD SERIES

SEASON SERIES: FIRST MEETING BETWEEN TWO TEAMS

ROC TEAM RANKINGS: .270 BA (9th-ML); 3.68 ERA (3rd-ML)

SAL TEAM RANKINGS: .263 BA (T14th-ML); 3.80 ERA (5th-ML)

ROC KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYERS: Milt Kipling, C; Casey Combs, 2B

ROC KEY PITCHERS: Brady Darwin, SP; Hick Quinn, RP

SAL KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYERS: Denny Gaston, 3B; Bill Barkley, 1B

SAL KEY PITCHERS: Jaime Jefferies, RP; George Garcia, RP

ROC COMMENTS: "Salem has a couple of good hitters and a couple of gold glovers to go along with a bullpen that rivals our own. It makes it an interesteing match up."

SAL COMMENTS: "I honestly have no clue how this series is going to go. Rochester steamrolled through the NL this season and last. Nobody came even close to knocking these guys off. This will be our first meeting, and anything can happen."

SUMMARY: The first meeting between these two SJ powerhouses. Rochester and Salem are almost mirror images of one another: a high potent offense which gets you the lead, and a dominating bullpen which maintains it. Salem and Rochester were 5th and 6th in the world in runs scored, respectively. Rochester is led by the likes or Kipling, Combs, the ageless Hector Rodriguez, and Aaron Frye, just to name a few. They score runs fast and often. Their starting rotation isn't bad either, with guys like Darwin and Gerald Vining leading the way. Once Rochester gets the lead late, it's almost an automatic win. Mac Griffith and Don Morris know how to hold a lead, and Quinn shuts the door. Rochester is used to winning, they're the defending champs.. and they can easily make it two in a row.

Salem has a high potent offense of their own. They can score runs in buckets, with guys like Gaston, Barkley, Geronimo Elcano, and Edgard Tarraga doing the dirty work. Tarraga is Salem's version of Hector Rodriguez, a guy who continues to produce at an older age. Salem uses tandems, so their starters don't go very long. Their Long-Relievers do the majority of the work, especially guys like S8 All-Star John Wang and Wesley Brow. Like Rochester, they have a devastating bullpen. Jefferies and Garcia can easily go a combined 300 IP, and they both bring nasty stuff to the mound. Once the game goes to the ninth, expect Teddy Hubbard to seal the victory.

SJW BLOG PREDICTION: This won't be a lopsided series, by any stretch. I fully expect this series to go the max 7 games. The winner? How can you bet against the defending champs? That's right, you can't.

in 7 games