Cardinals, Red Sox, Twins eliminated

And then there were five.

That's the number of teams left in the MLB postseason, as two more teams followed the St. Louis Cardinals out the door today. Like the Cardinals, both the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins were swept. Colorado and Philadelphia just started the third game of their National League Division Series, which is tied at one win apiece.

The ironic thing about the three eliminated teams is that they were all let down in a big, big way by what I would argue is their most reliable pitcher. St. Louis never recovered from a so-so start from ace Chris Carpenter in Game 1 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Minnesota had Game 2, and a split of its first two games in New York, wrapped up until closer Joe Nathan was taken deep by Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez. Speaking of all-world closers blowing ninth-inning leads, Boston was in control today until the Los Angeles Angels rallied against Jonathan Paplebon.

I remain stunned by the manner in which the Cardinals were knocked out of the playoffs. Since they acquired, among others, Matt Holliday in July, I thought they were the best team in the National League. With Carpenter and Adam Wainwright heading their rotation and the best player on the planet, Albert Pujols, in the middle of their order, I thought the Cardinals were as well equipped to win in October as anyone in baseball. Instead all of the guys I mentioned with the big-time exception of Wainwright had big letdowns, and the Dodgers dispensed of them as easily as they did the Chicago Cubs a year before.

The Angels' victory wasn't as surprising, except in the regard that Boston had made an annual tradition of beating their brains in each October. But manager Mike Scioscia, as usual, has his team playing fantastic baseball. It has to be encouraging that Vladimir Guerrero, the one-time superstar who has regressed dramatically, had the winning hit off of Paplebon today. He's a wild card in the Angels' looming American League Championship Series versus the Yankees.

Speaking of the Yankees, they're the one team I'm not at all surprised to see win in a sweep. They're as scary right now as some of their best teams from the 1990s, especially now that Rodriguez has learned that the season doesn't end in early September. As for the Twins ... as much as I was on their bandwagon here lately, even I had to admit that they're one of the worst playoff teams I've ever seen. Joe Mauer might be the best player not named Pujols on the planet, but take him away and the Twins might be Kansas City bad.