After failing to finish off the Red Sox in Game 3, Oakland took an early lead in Game 4. The A's strung together a walk and three singles to put one run up on the board in the second. However, that run provided the team with little comfort when RHP Tim Hudson had to leave the game prior to the finishing his warm-ups before the bottom of the second. At the time, ESPN indicated he'd injured his hip. He was later diagnosed with a strained left oblique, which he supposedly suffered while pitching to the last batter of the first inning, 2B-L Todd Walker.

RHP Steve Sparks took over for Hudson and escaped the second without giving up a run to Boston. RHP John Burkett settled down in the third, retiring the middle of the Oakland lineup, one-two-three. 3B-S Bill Mueller walked to lead off the bottom of the third. C-S Jason Varitek followed with a grounder up the middle, which SS-R Miguel Tejada fielded and flipped to 2B-R Mark Ellis at second for the force out. Ellis probably should have held onto the ball as Varitek was already almost at first base, but he let loose a bad throw which skidded away from 1B-L Scott Hatteberg. The ball rolled to the wall, so Varitek was at third by the time C-S Adam Melhuse retrieved it. Rather than holding onto the ball, Melhuse made a bad throw to across the infield to third, where no one was standing. If Sparks hadn't been backing up the play behind third base, Varitek could have gone home. Oakland didn't have to dwell on allowing Varitek to reach scoring position, as OF-L Johnny Damon homered into the Red Sox's bullpen in right field, putting Boston up 2-1.

Both teams had runners on base over the next two innings, but the score remained unchanged until the sixth. Hatteberg led off the inning with a single and scored on a Melhuse triple. OF-R Jermaine Dye then homered into the last row of seats on top of the Green Monster, moving the Athletics ahead 4-2. RHP Tim Wakefield relieved Burkett and closed out the inning without allowing Oakland to widen the gap. Leading off in the bottom of the inning, Walker hit a solo homer off LHP Ricardo Rincon, who'd taken over for Sparks.

The score remained 4-3 Oakland when the A's sent RHP Keith Foulke to pitch the eighth. In four innings of relief over the first two games of the series, Foulke had not given up a run to Boston. While Damon opened the inning with a routine ground out to short, SS-R Nomar Garciaparra doubled off the Green Monster in left, waited at second as Walker hit a fly ball into center for the second out of the inning, and then moved to third when OF-R Manny Ramirez singled into left. DH-L David Ortiz came to the plate 0-16 in the series and doubled into right, scoring Garciaparra and Ramirez and putting Boston up 5-4. RHP Scott Williamson, who'd also pitched the eighth, returned to the mound for the top of the ninth and closed out the game with a one-two-three inning. The series will return to Oakland tomorrow for a decisive fifth game.

LHP David Wells and LHP Johan Santana were locked in a pitchers' dual for the first three innings of their Sunday game. However, Santana evidently wasn't destined to pitch in the fifth inning of a division series game this year. SS-R Derek Jeter struck out swinging to lead off the fourth prior to the hit parade. The Yankees tallied four runs on five hits and an intentional walk before Minnesota decided to send RHP Juan Rincon out to relieve Santana. Rincon allowed both Santana's remaining baserunners to score and loaded the bases before leaving without having retired a batter. LHP Eric Milton came in and was able to get the final out of the inning, so the Twins escaped the fourth with the Yankees up 6-0. Minnesota managed to put together three singles for a run in the bottom of the inning, but they didn't really crack Wells.

The pitchers' dual resumed after the inning with Milton going toe to toe with Wells through the seventh, though Milton received a rather large assist from his left fielder in the sixth. OF-R Shannon Stewart went back to the wall and waited on a Jeter fly ball, before making a perfectly timed jump to rob Jeter of what would have been a two run homer.

Around that time, the announcers began lauding the Yankees for keeping pressure on the Twins and not backing off despite their lead, since comebacks are always possible in baseball. I probably should have simply attempted to enjoy the refreshing nature of their commentary. However, I couldn't help thinking that were some other team on the field, the discussion in the booth would have centered around the leading club running up the score, whereas the Yankees were touted as champions who never let up. The organization certainly possesses a long history of achievement, but that does not mean that all of their players possess special talent and conduct themselves with extraordinary poise or that observers should stand in awe when they manage to avoid making mistakes when executing routine plays.

Taking over for Milton in the eighth, RHP LaTroy Hawkins helped the Yankees increase their lead to 7-1 with a throwing error. If Stewart hadn't made a great catch of a 1B-L Nick Johnson fly into deep left and then quickly relayed the ball to second, where OF-R Juan Rivera hadn't yet tagged up, New York might have had another big inning.

The Twins made a little progress against Wells in the bottom of the inning and he was approaching 100 pitches, so the Yankee sent LHP Gabe White to quash the comeback. Jeter took the first pitch of the ninth inning too deep for Stewart to rob, and the Yankees were up 8-1. 3B-L Corey Koskie reached on a two out single to left in the bottom of the ninth, but Minnesota wasn't even able to narrow the score before White closed the book on the series. New York will advance to the ALCS.

Chicago once again scored on LHP Mike Hampton early, mustering one run in the first and another when SS-R Alex Gonzalez led off the second with a solo homer into the first few rows to the left of the batters eye in centerfield. After the homer, Hampton chewed through the Cubs' lineup for a few innings, limiting Chicago's opportunities to build on their lead. Then in the sixth with OF-R Moises Alou on first following a single, 3B-R Aramis Ramirez sent a ball a few feet right of Gonzalez's earlier homer, bringing Chicago's lead to 4-0.

RHP Kerry Wood took the mound for Game 5 of the Cubs/Braves series wearing RHP Mark Prior's glove after reportedly forgetting to pack his own mitt, but the lack of his own equipment did not appear to affect him negatively. He cruised through the first five innings against Atlanta's formidable offense. The only inning during the entire game in which he allowed more than one baserunner was the sixth.

Wood issued a walk to SS-S Rafael Furcal to lead off the inning followed by a single to 2B-R Marcus Giles. OF-R Gary Sheffield then hit a line drive into center, which OF-L Kenny Lofton clearly caught. Lofton threw to second base for a double play, as Furcal had proceeded to home rather than tagging up. However, the umpires ruled Lofton trapped the ball, so Furcal was safe at home and Sheffield was safe at first. Meanwhile, Giles was out with the force play at second, because he believed Lofton made the catch, so he went back to tag first. There was considerable discussion in the booth as to whether Sheffield should be out, because he passed Giles on the base paths, but Giles was no longer a runner after the Cubs' made the out at second. Luckily, the umpire's mistake didn't cost Chicago more than the one run, as they were able to turn a double play when OF-S Chipper Jones hit a grounder to short.

Atlanta pulled Hampton from the game for RHP Kevin Gryboski after Lofton singled in the seventh, but nothing came of the inning as the Braves used a pitch out to catch Lofton stealing second to end the inning. In the ninth, Chicago had runners at first and third with two outs when Wood's spot in the lineup came to bat. The announcers couldn't believe that manager Dusty Baker would pull Wood from the game and thought Cub fans at home must disagree with the decision. Meanwhile, we were watching the game wondering what they were talking about. Wood was already at 117 pitches and though he'd kept Atlanta off the board since the sixth, he was beginning to look tired on the mound. We've too often seen Baker put wins in jeopardy by trying to give his starter a complete game when he has a closer to pitch the ninth, so we were happy the offensive situation gave him an excuse to pull Wood.

Pinch-hitter OF-L Tom Goodwin doubled down the right field line to score 1B-R Eric Karros from third, putting the Cubs up 5-1. Closer RHP Joe Borowski took the mound in the bottom of the ninth and quickly eliminated the Braves' chances of using their last three outs to rebound.

A large compliment of Chicago fans again traveled to Atlanta for the game. As the Cubs celebrated on the field, one man escaped the stands and joyfully ran across the infield where a smiling Lofton coming from the outfield gave him a high five before realizing the man wasn't supposed to be there. Players went into the clubhouse and then came out to spray Champaign on those fans remaining in the park. While the club still has a ways to go before ending the long draught between Cubs' World Championships, winning the organization's first post-season series in 95 years should provide some refreshment for the parched souls of Chicago's faithful.