MLB National League Championship Series

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

Looking Forward ...

Bask in the baseball now, because if the Yankees beat the Angels Thursday night, there isn't going to be much to keep us busy until the World Series begins.

In the last three LCS rounds, one of the two series has either gone four or five games. The other half -- the 2006 NLCS and the 2007 and 2008 ALCS -- went the distance. That partially masked the big problem with Major League Baseball's ever-elongating postseason schedule, but if the Yankees wrap up their spot in the World Series, it'll be impossible to ignore.

PHILADELPHIA -- As the Phillies celebrated the NL's first repeat championship in 12 years Wednesday, a fan at Citizens Bank Park held up a sign:

"Bring On The Bronx."

Oh yeah.

Asked about a potential Yankees-Phillies World Series, Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins whistled.

"Two big boys," he said.

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For the first time this postseason, there's a World Series berth on the line. Following their dramatic last at-bat win over the Dodgers Monday night, the Phillies will try to seal their second straight trip to the Fall Classic Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Standing in the Phillies' way is Vicente Padilla, who Los Angeles picked up off the scrap heap in August, but has excelled down the stretch.

Will it be joy in the City of Brotherly Love or a return trip to the City of Angels for Game 6? Join the MLB FanHouse crew, after the jump, for a LIVE chat starting at 7:45 PM ET.

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 matchup almost a foregone conclusion, here's a question to ponder. A-Rod or Ryan Howard? Who's having the better postseason?

Rodriguez joined Howard and Lou Gehrig as the only players to drive in a run in eight straight postseason games Tuesday night, making it a perfect time to draw the comparison.

PHILADELPHIA -- Joe Torre met with the Dodgers for 12 minutes Tuesday in the visitors' weight room at Citizens Bank Park in an effort to convince his players they are Idiots.

It may not work. These are not the 2004 Red Sox.

Down 3-1 in the NLCS to the Phillies, the Dodgers will try to become the seventh team to come back from such a deficit in an LCS.

The kings of the comeback were the so-called "Idiots," who in 2004 wiped out the Yankees 3-0 lead in the ALCS -- sending Torre home for the winter.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies' incredible victory in Game 4 of the NLCS on Monday started not with Matt Stairs' walk, but in the last week of the 2006 season.

That's when the team's confidence began to coalesce, and it eventually cemented into a feeling of near-invincibility that has manifested itself so often the past two seasons.

And peaked Monday.

"We believe in ourselves," Jimmy Rollins said after his two-out, two-run, ninth-inning double off a 99 mph Jonathan Broxton fastball put the Dodgers in a 3-1 series hole. "We believe in our ability. ... About the seventh inning is when we start really getting, I guess, locked in, if it hasn't happened earlier.

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It's a pivotal day in both League Championship Series, with the Angels looking to avoid falling into a (nearly) insurmountable 3-0 hole against the Yankees this afternoon and the Dodgers and Phillies grappling for control in the NL this evening.

Will we have two teams on the brink of the World Series? Or will both LCS ratchet up the drama and go long?

Either way the MLB FanHouse crew will be here to take you through it all in our second marathon live chat of the second round of the postseason. Join us after the jump starting at 3:45 PM ET.

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

Looking Forward ...

So what exactly will Mike Scioscia do if the Angels take a lead into the ninth inning Monday afternoon? Brian Fuentes became the latest closer to blow a save this postseason when he surrendered a home run to Alex Rodriguez in the 11th inning of Game 2.

The guess here is that Scioscia will handle Fuentes much the way he handled him down the stretch and the way Charlie Manuel has handled Brad Lidge -- he'll let the situation dictate his decisions. Scioscia has used Fuentes (a left-hander) and top setup man Kevin Jepsen (a right-hander) depending on the opposing hitters, so it'd be no surprise if he continues to do so now, just don't think of it as a slap in the face or a lack of confidence in Fuentes.

PHILADELPHIA -- So far this postseason, Ryan Howard has as many triples as home runs.

That's not a bad thing.

"Ryan's a lot of fun to watch," Phillies teammate Jimmy Rollins said after Sunday's biggest beatdown west of Foxborough, Mass.

"We don't have the power-hitting Ryan Howard right now, but we have a great hitter in Ryan Howard, delivering, driving in RBIs."

A lot of RBI.

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The National League Championship Series resumes Sunday night, and it'd be hard for Game 3 to get any bigger.

The Phillies broke out the bats in Game 1, then their bullpen broke down in Game 2, leaving the series tied at 1-all and bringing extra meaning to the first game in Philadelphia. It's Cliff Lee for the Phils and Hiroki Kuroda for the Dodgers from Citizens Bank Park, and the MLB FanHouse crew will be here to take you from first pitch to final out.

Join us after the jump, for a LIVE chat beginning at 7:45 PM ET.