MLB American League Division Series

Playoff Pulse is our morning rundown of the night that was and the night that will be during the MLB postseason.

Looking Forward ...

Let's keep this section short, since there will be plenty of looking ahead here over the next few days. TBS took a hit in the first round of the postseason, with three sweeps robbing the network of a more dramatic finish to the Division Series.

The League Championship Series ought to make up for it.

Playoff Pulse is our morning rundown of the night that was and the night that will be during the MLB postseason.

Looking Forward ...

TNT purports to know drama. Its sister network TBS knows all too well the absence of it. At least when it comes to the Division Series, that is.

In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.

Rest easy Yankee fans. It appears that you finally have the real Alex Rodriguez at just the right time. Sure, it's easy to say it's early, A-Rod still has much to prove and has many demons to overcome, but this is not just about results. Looking at him simply from a mechanical and approach standpoint, Rodriguez looks absolutely locked in.

Many sluggers like Rodriguez can overcome a poor approach at times and get by on pure ability, and to an extent the same goes for him. But, when you are looking for the super-human results that Yankee fans expect, look no further than his comfort level with his mechanics at the plate.

MINNEAPOLIS -- When Vladimir Guerrero dumped his single to center field off Jonathan Papelbon, a roar -- and a few laughs -- emanated from the Yankees clubhouse at the Metrodome. It was more of the same "Can you believe that?" reaction any baseball fan had at that moment than a "We want the Angels!" cheer.

Because they may not want the Angels.

"They've played us tough because they've been better than us in the past," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told FanHouse as the Yankees held a relatively subdued celebration of their sweep of the Twins.

"We'll find out who's the best now, this year."

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BOSTON -- Even in the afterglow of the finest postseason moment of his career, Vladimir Guerrero wasn't thinking only about himself.

If that wasn't obvious by his words, one could tell as soon as he stepped to the interview podium in Fenway Park Sunday afternoon wearing a Nick Adenhart T-shirt.

So when he was asked, specifically, how great it must have felt for him to not only interrupt his personal history of playoff disappearances but also the Los Angeles Angels' dismal record against Boston with his game- and American League Division Series-winning hit, Guerrero talked not about himself, but about the teammate killed in a car crash six months ago.

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BOSTON (AP) -- Vladimir Guerrero and the Los Angeles Angels shrugged off their postseason failures and swept the Boston Red Sox out of the playoffs.

Guerrero hit a two-out, two-run single off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth inning and the Angels rallied past Boston 7-6 in Game 3 Sunday, advancing to the AL championship series with their first postseason sweep in franchise history.

The Red Sox intentionally walked Torii Hunter with runners on second and third to bring up Guerrero, a star who had long been waiting for a big October hit. And he came through against Papelbon, who had never before allowed a run in the postseason.

"That's the biggest hit he's had," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I think the way we did it, in a sweep, in Game 3 with two out in the ninth, gives us momentum."

With two series over, Major League Baseball has updated the schedule for the rest of the Division Series.

The Rockies and Phillies will play their Game 4 at 4 PM ET if the Yankees-Twins series is still going on. Should the Yankees finish off a sweep Sunday night, the NL Game would move to 6 PM ET.

Series-by-series times are after the jump (all times Eastern).

Playoff Pulse is our morning rundown of the night that was and the night that will be during the MLB postseason.

Looking Forward ...

With the World Series scheduled to go into November, we had a feeling extreme cold weather could play a factor in the postseason. Who knew it would be so soon? Wintry weather forced the postponement of Game 3 of the Rockies-Phillies NLDS to Sunday night.

It should be nicer than it was Saturday, with the game-time temperature projected to be in the low-40s, but that's still awfully frigid for baseball, and it will only get colder as the game goes on.

Forgive Wally Joyner if he's nervous as the Angels attempt to close out the Boston Red Sox on Sunday in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.

The last time the Angels were in this position against Boston -- ahead by two games entering Game 5 of the League Championship Series in 1986 -- the Red Sox dealt a blow so painful that ailing Angels fans and Joyner needed a hit of morphine.

Joyner was a rookie first baseman who'd batted .290 with 22 home runs and 100 RBI. Across the first three games of the 1986 ALCS, he'd gone 5-for-11 with two doubles and a home run.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Phil Cuzzi, the umpire who missed a call down the left-field line that helped cost the Twins their game Friday night at Yankee Stadium, was fired as a minor league umpire in 1993.

According to a June 1999 story by The Associated Press, Cuzzi was working at a hotel bar in July 1999 when he approached National League president Len Coleman and asked for a chance to get back into umpiring.

Coleman allowed Cuzzi to work his way back from the low minors, and Cuzzi was one of 25 new umpires hired in 1999 as a response to mass resignations that were part of a failed labor ploy.

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