!NAME_COMMA!

The playoffs are here. $100 players ended the regular season up $2,632 thanks in part to a 72% run in September. Two picks for day one of the playoffs...

Good luck today...

*ST. LOUIS -196 over San Diego (1:05 Eastern)

Watch out for the Cards this postseason. With all the drama in the AL, not much attention has been paid to St. Louis. But make no mistake, this team is on a mission after last year. They were swept by the Sox last year but they were without Chris Carpenter last year and he goes tonight. He's posted a 21-5 record with a 2.83 ERA this season. The Padres keep trying to talk themselves out of the fact that their record DOES matter. They were 82-80 and are no match for the Cards. But, for reasons stated above, and the fact that San Diego won 3 of 7 from St. Louis this year, the Cardinals won't be taking the Padres lightly. Carpenter is 2-1 with a 2.81 ERA vs. San Diego while his counterpart, Jake Peavy is 0-2 vs. St. Louis. St. Louis has the bullpen advantage and their bats have been a lot hotter than San Diego's recently. Over the past seven games, St. Louis has put up 6.3 runs per game to just 4.0 for San Diego. Carpenter is a force, especially when he is rested. Working off 5+ days of rest, he is 21-3 over the past two seasons. Road underdogs that lack power (averaging under 1 HR per game) after allowing 3 runs or less 3 straight games are just 33-99 (25%) over the last 5 seasons. We'll back St. Louis here for one star.

*LA ANAHEIM -123 over NY Yankees (8:10 Eastern)

The Angels won 14 of 16 heading into the playoffs, earning them the home field spot here thanks to taking 6 of 10 from the Yankees during the regular season. The Angels turn to Bartolo Colon tonight. He was 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA this season. The Yankees counter with Mike Mussina who had a very average year and finished poorly posting a 7.59 ERA over his last three starts. On the road, his ERA was 5.34 this season. Nothing to write home about. LA's bullpen at home is one of the best in the game where they had a 2.66 ERA and 1.149 WHIP. The Angels are 42-24 this season as a favorite between -100 and -150 and 24-15 vs. very good teams at 54%+ on the season. One of the reasons they beat the Yanks during the regular season is that they play well against power teams. In the second half of the season, they were 15-4 against teams that averaged 1.25+ home runs per game. Anaheim for one star.