Game 2 of the ALCS and Game 1 of the NLCS were played simultaneously on Wednesday night, meaning we were once again forced to flip between the games.

The Cardinals advanced to the NLCS after only three games against Arizona in the Division Series and then had to wait for the Braves vs. Giants' series to end, so Matt Morris took the mound yesterday on 7 days rest. In the first inning it was evident that Morris wasn't pitching his best. San Francisco put a run on the board in the first, four in the second, and another in the third. Morris then settled down a bit and pitched a clean fourth before leaving after allowing a homer to David Bell in the fifth. Kenny Lofton played a big part in San Francisco's offensive push against Morris. Lofton walked and later scored in the first, singled and scored in the second, and then hit a solo shot in the third.

When Lofton came up in the fifth, Mike Crudale, who relieved Morris, threw the first pitch high and inside, several inches away from Lofton's head but still relatively close. Crudale doesn't often have control problems, so he was probably sending Lofton a message since the Giant showboated after his home run. Lofton took offense to the inside pitch and began to yell at Crudale. St. Louis catcher Mike Matheny stepped between Lofton and the mound and began to yell back at Lofton. The benches cleared and managers Dusty Baker and Tony LaRussa exchanged heated words while several other groups of Cardinals and Giants argued; Barry Bonds seemed especially aggravated, yelling at a pack of Cardinals led by Eduardo Perez. Some players, particularly Lofton, were held back so they wouldn't brawl. Eventually everyone settled down and returned to their places. Lofton finished his at-bat by flying to Edmonds in center.

Energized by the on-field antics, St. Louis attempted a comeback in the bottom of the fifth. Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer off Kirk Rueter. Unfortunately, Crudale allowed Benito Santiago to take him deep for two runs in the sixth, so Miguel Cairo's two-run bomb in the bottom of the inning merely helped the Cardinals keep pace with the Giants' offensive barrage.

No runs scored in the seventh, though there was some confusion during Jim Edmond's at-bat. The home plate umpire paused the game and spoke to stadium personnel in the stands. At first it appeared that a camera, identified by the announcers as belonging to Baseball International, was the problem due to its tally light causing a distraction in the hitters' field of view. Later we were told that there was a problem with the flash of a still photographer nearby the Baseball International camera. After several minutes of delay, the game resumed with Edmonds sadly striking out. J.D. Drew homered in the eighth, but no one else was able to get their bats moving against the bullpen, so the Cardinals lost 9-6.

The Cardinals loss in Game One of this series likely means the NLCS won't return to St. Louis after the teams head to San Francisco on Saturday. Matt Morris was the automatic win in their arsenal, and while their other pitchers certainly aren't bad, they don't match-up with what the Giants can offer.

We caught the Darin Erstad homer on a replay, as we were watching St. Louis game when Erstad went deep in the first. In the second inning, we were watching as Brad Fuller was caught running home on an infield grounder. However, with the next batter at the plate, Adam Kennedy fell between first and second, making Doug Mientkiewicz think they could catch him in a run down. Meanwhile Scott Spiezio, already on third base, took advantage of the situation to head for home. Minnesota catcher A.J. Pierzynski caught a solid throw from Mientkeiwicz, but Spiezio knocked the ball from Pierzynski's glove while running through home plate. Pierzynski was charged with an error on the play, and Kennedy, who made it to third during the scuffle at the plate, scored on a single by the next batter, David Eckstein.

Rick Reed settled down after the second, but the Angels kept pace. Pitcher Ramon Ortiz made a nice pick-off throw to third to get Luis Rivas in the third inning. Ortiz actually allowed more hits than Reed over the 5.1 innings they both pitched. However, Ortiz spread his baserunners over several innings, so they didn't cost him the way Reed's hurt the Twins. Johan Santana relieved Reed in the sixth after Reed had allowed another run and a couple more runners to reach base. Anaheim scored two additional runs in the top of that inning. The Angels needed to relieve Ortiz in the bottom of the inning after he gave up the first two runs Minnesota scored in the game.

While the Twins scored a third run in the sixth, neither club would touch the other's bullpen for the remainder of the game, allowing the Angels to win 6-3. After Tuesday's game, we were a little uncertain as to whether Anaheim would be able to fulfill our prediction and win this series. However, we expected them to lose one of the Metrodome games; we just thought it would be the first one. The Angels should now return home to their rally monkey and thunder sticks to take three straight on their way to the first pennant in franchise history.