Ready to ride

Christine and I have followed our teams for 324 games, and now it could all be over in three games each, or we could have a long, intense month that ends with one of us not talking to the other.

Nothing is better than winning in the playoffs, and nothing is worse. The long marathon comes down to minutiae right now. Just ask the Twins and Tigers, whose season ended in game No. 163 before the Twins pushed across a run in the 12th inning to win 6-5. You have to love that they needed extra innings in an extra game to complete one of the biggest comebacks in baseball history. And, yes, we're quite familiar with how the NL East was won in 2007.

Before we make our predictions for the first round, here's a quick recap of today's SoxandPhils playoff notes: Cliff Lee starts game 1; Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ join the reality TV stars in The Pen; and Eric Bruntlett, Clay Condrey and Tyler Walker aren't on the roster for this round.

Christine is upset about the last one because Walker has been arguably the second best reliever on the Phillies this year. And he's been prominently featured as the Phillie most looking forward to his playoff debut.

No real surprises today for the Red Sox (although they're not announcing their roster until tomorrow), except for the fact that Manny Delcarmen was in a car crash on Saturday. That's odd they managed to kept that quiet for so long. And I forgot how good Jonathan Papelbon has been in the playoffs, so he's probably going to get rocked in his first appearance now.

Our picks: Of the SoxandPhils' preseason predictions, only Christine and I have our World Series in tact. She has the Phillies over the Angels; I have the Red Sox over the Phillies. We each stand by our picks, but mine was more precise {thanks for rubbing it in}:

World Series: Red Sox over Phillies. Jason Bay hits a walkoff home run in Game 7 - the first blown save in three years for Brad Lidge.

Here are my picks for the first round: I'm not as confident in the Sox as I have been in the past two years, and I am nervous that their dominance over the Angels in the playoffs is bound to even out eventually, but I think the Sox will pull it out in five.

I'll go with my heart over my head and take the Twins over the Yankees in four. But if the Twins lose Game 1, they'll be swept.

Despite the Phillies bullpen issues, I think they have enough to beat the Rockies in four. I'll take the Cardinals in four.

Christine's picks:

Rockies vs. Phillies: Phillies, no doubt.

Cardinals vs. Dodgers: Cardinals. I want an easy road to the World Series, and the Cardinals would definitely provide that.

Twins vs. Yankees: Yankees. Blah. But don't worry, they won't win it all.

Red Sox vs. Angels: Angels. If you'll recall my preseason pick, I wanted to say the Red Sox for the Wild Card, but Greg was kind of pissy over that. So I elevated them to AL East champs over the Rays (my division pick). Should have stuck with my Wild Card instinct. Anyway, this part of the prediction will stand. This is the year the Angels finally beat the Red Sox in a round of the playoffs, setting up an Angels-Phillies finale.