Don't Do This to us Again, Guys

So, the As are now up 2-0 in the series and heading home. Typically in this century, this point, when they need to win just one game to wrap up a series, is when things start to go to hell. Man do I hope this year they try something new.

Update: Mark Ellis, the As' starting second baseman, broke his right index finger swinging at a Joe Nathan pitch in the ninth inning today. His status will be updated tomorrow, but this can't be good. Ellis had the highest fielding percentage for a second baseman in baseball history this season and batted .273 after the all-star break and his post-all-star game HRs and RBI were nearly triple what he had before the break. And although the As have a number of statistically interchangeable outfielders, they don't have anybody on the roster to replace Ellis, Scutaro, or Chavez if they go out. Plus, there's nobody else on the roster from South Dakota.

Update the second: The powers that be decided that for the first two days of the play-offs only Yankees-Tigers were ready for prime time. What a shame for them, then, if tonight's game is rained out and they have no game to televise. If only it could have been last night, when Fox and McCarver had the telecast.