Thunder

Denver is a budding city of sports dynasties. Besides the Avalanche, every team has potential. Broncos, Rockies, and Nuggets. Rockies have some good hitters, but a lot of injuries. Chacin is their ace, but they don't really have anyone behind him.

What a great start...

Ace Ticket has some. I looked there.

Game 4 of the ALCS is on my birthday! I guess they changed the schedule because last month I read that my birthday would be on an off day.

Haven't figured it out why yet, but it's not the end of the world. There are a lot of things about iOS 7 that I like a lot.

I live in the boondocks, not the suburbs.

Random Red Sox notes from Colorado By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff DENVER — Plenty of questions out there about the tiebreaker for best record in the American League. Here's where it stands and why it matters: The Sox (95-62) lead the Athletics (94-63) by one game in the race for the best record in the American League. The winner gets to play the wild-card winner and then has home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. With Detroit looking like the No. 3 seed, that's who the No. 2 seed would play. So finishing with the best record means you can avoid Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Miguel Cabrera, etc. That's a lot of incentive. The tiebreaker is head to head. The Sox were 3-3 against the A's. The second tiebreaker is intradivision record. The Sox are 43-30 and the A's 42-29. Here's a list of the other tiebreakers. Also: • The last time the Pirates were in the playoffs, in 1992, Tim Wakefield was a rookie. That's how long ago it was. The Red Sox did a lot to help the Pirates this year. Mark Melancon is 3-2 with 16 saves and a 1.41 ERA over 71 appearances. He has a 0.91 WHIP. Stolmy Pimentel appeared in four games after a solid minor league season. He has allowed two earned runs over 7.1 innings. They were the main pieces the Sox traded in the ill-fated Joel Hanrahan deal. Catcher Mike McKenry was traded from the Sox to the Pirates in 2011. He has appeared in 41 games this season. • Speaking of Hanrahan, he hasn't been around the Red Sox since his surgery, and that probably indicates he'll look to start over elsewhere once he's healthy. Andrew Bailey and Andrew Miller have been around. Both are arbitration-eligible. The Sox would seem likely to keep Miller, as he will be ready for spring training. Bailey looks like a non-tender, given that he may not return until next July. • John McDonald is in line to receive playoff shares from the Guardians, Pirates, and Red Sox. • Does it strike anybody else as odd that Quintin Berry has attempted one stolen base since being activated Sept. 1? That's it, one. He has been used as a pinch runner seven times, too. Dave Roberts was 5 for 7 in the 2004 regular season for the Red Sox. They picked him up on July 31 that season. • The Red Sox sold 94.4 percent of seats to their home games. That's third in baseball behind the Giants and Cardinals. The Sox averaged 34,979 at home, down 2,588 from last season. So for all the carrying on about attendance, they did pretty well. • Only an astute Red Sox fan will recall that the team briefly held the rights to righthanded pitcher David Carpenter. When John Farrell decided to leave the Blue Jays for the Red Sox, the teams had to work out a compensation package. Last Oct. 21, the Red Sox traded Mike Aviles to Toronto for Carpenter, an undistinguished reliever who had appeared in 33 games during the 2012 season (30 for Houston, three for Toronto). On Nov. 20, Carpenter was designated for assignment (along with Danny Valencia, Sandy Rosario, Ivan De Jesus, and Zach Stewart) so the Sox could open 40-man-roster spots for Alex Wilson, Christian Vazquez, Alex Hassan, Dan Butler, and Allen Webster. The Braves claimed Carpenter off waivers on Nov. 30. The transaction went largely unnoticed at the time. But this year Carpenter has appeared in 54 games for Atlanta and has a 1.84 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP, and is averaging 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings. • There are 26 pitchers with more saves than Koji Uehara. Outside of maybe Craig Kimbrel, is there one you'd prefer on the mound over him right now? • Mike Napoli buys Matchbox cars and tapes them to a column near his locker every time he hits a home run. There are 23 of them, all lined up. • Daniel Nava is 13th among all outfielders in OPS. You would have to think the Sox won't do much to change how they handle left field next season. • Here's betting Ryan Dempster gets some big outs in the postseason. Farrell has what seems like unshakable faith in Junichi Tazawa, but Tazawa might not have much rope. • The Sox must be happy those pesky Baltimore Orioles won't make the playoffs. But they end the season with three games at Camden Yards, and Buck Showalter won't let his team lie down. • Rays manager Joe Maddon said in a very confident tone of voice Sept. 12 that he was looking forward to seeing the Red Sox in the playoffs. One way or another, he'll probably be right. • Thought the Red Sox ceremony for Mariano Rivera was fine, if a little bit too centered on his blowing a save many years ago. The best part of that day was seeing Rivera come in from the bullpen after the game was over and getting applauded by fans who had stuck around to do just that. • My boss asked me to send him a list of the top 10 games this season. Feel free to email any suggestions you may have. • Will the playoffs returning to Fenway Park give birth to the $75 parking space? • Jacoby Ellsbury gets a qualifying offer for sure. But what of Jarrod Saltalamacchia? Even if he takes it, overpaying a catcher for one year isn't such a bad thing with Christian Vazquez and Blake Swihart on the way. • Dennis Eckersley was a resounding success on NESN filling in for Jerry Remy. He'll do the playoffs for TBS with Don Orsillo, too. Here's hoping they get the Red Sox series. Fox should look at Eck to replace Tim McCarver. He's that good. • The NBA is talking about putting player nicknames on jerseys for some games this season, like "King James" or "The Truth." Can't ever see baseball doing that. But a "Big Papi" Red Sox road jersey would sell, right? • Speaking of souvenirs, Uehara wears a red Nike T-shirt under his uniform that says, "Koji Uehera (19) Do My Best!" in English and Japanese on the front. Hey, Nike, sell this shirt at Fenway Park. People would line up for it. • OK, time to head for the park. Thanks for following the journey this season. Lots more to come.

Can't do this on my iPad anymore with iOS 7: RHP John Lackey (10-12, 3.44) VS RHP Tyler Chatwood (7-5, 3.36) Game time: 8:40 p.m. TV/radio: NESN / WEEI. Red Sox vs. Chatwood: Napoli 2-5, Ross 2-5, Victorino 0-4, Carp 1-3, Ellsbury 1-3, McDonald 1-3, Ortiz 1-2, Pedroia 2-2. Rockies vs. Lackey: Cuddyer 7-22, Torrealba 4-14, Gonzalez 4-12, Helton 4-10, Herrera 1-4, LeMahieu 0-4, Arenado 1-3, Rosario 2-3, Rutledge 0-3. Stat of the Day: The Sox are 13-5 in interleague games. Only the Pirates (15-5) have more interleague wins. The Rockies are 4-14. Notes: The Sox took two games from the Rockies at Fenway in June. But they trail the all-time series, 5-7, and are 2-4 at Coors Field. That does not include the 2007 World Series, however ... Lackey is 17-9, 3.08 in 36 career interleague games, 2-2, 2.48 in four starts this season. He beat the Rockies June 26, allowing two runs over seven innings and striking out 12 without a walk ... Chatwood is 0-6, 6.86 in five major league starts since July 31. He has not faced the Sox since April 21, 2011, when he was with the Angels ... The Sox are 14-6 in September. That matches the total number of wins they had in September 2011 (7-20) and 2012 (7-19) ... Colorado first baseman Todd Helton, who is retiring after the season, will play his final two home games against the Sox. In 17 years, he is a career .345/.441/.606 hitter at Coors Field and .287/.386/.470 on the road ... Will Middlebrooks is 4 of his last 35 over 10 games with one RBI and no extra-base hits ... Jackie Bradley Jr. is 5 of his last 10 with two extra-base hits ... The Sox have 36 successful stolen bases in a row. Song of the Day: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross.

Let's go Rays! Put the Skanks out of their misery.

Who rides trains anymore?

Funny how many of the prediction in the OP are true.

6 actually. Game 3 was on my 6th birthday. I vaguely recall that series though.

When I was watching the highlights, Thorne said it was the knee.

I guess it could work out, but it would mean that the Sox would have one less hitter or one less pitcher, which could be important, especially in a 7 game series.

Agreed. Berry hasn't showed anything at the plate, which will be important in the playoffs. He can't just PR in the playoffs with a limited roster.

Gotta feel for Manny Machado. That was a gruesome knee injury.

Lester's looking like a lock to start game 1, with Buchholz, Lackey, and Peavy rounding out the rotation.

Loved reading your story. Welcome!

His foursome would include Girardi, Showalter, and Bruce Bochy.

Ban this thread starter. What a joke.

Until a nice 4th quarter offensive malfunction. The Rent was rocking after 3, and then we all slowly watched UConn blow it. The place was at least 1/4 Michigan fans, who were very obnoxious the whole game. My eyes were opened though. In April, I went on a field trip to UConn. The campus is beautiful and they have a huge engineering program. The football game showed me how classy of an institution it is. The band played "The Victors" before the game started. They really didn't have to do that. From famous Alumni to the students, UConn has a classy fan base. They are full of support. The entire women's basketball team, Kemba Walker, Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall, Kevin Ollie, and Jim Calhoun were all in the house, as well as my favorite Yankee (Jeter) who received a lot of boos when introduced partly because there were plenty of Sox fans there and partly because he's from Michigan. Anyway, I'm seriously going to consider going to UConn when the time comes. If I don't get to play sports, I want to be a part of a classy program that supports their sports teams no matter what. That is what I saw tonight. That is the big thing I took from this.

Well, I'm off to YOTN's hometown. Go Sox!

Game Time: 7:10 p.m. TV/Radio: NESN / WEEI. Red Sox vs. Buehrle: Ortiz 25-74, Pedroia 12-33, Gomes 8-25, Ellsbury 6-22, Napoli 4-19, Victorino 5-21, McDonald 4-20, Middlebrooks 6-13, Ross 2-10, Drew 2-8, Nava 4-9, Lavarnway 3-6, Saltalamacchia 0-3, Snyder 1-3. Blue Jays vs. Buchholz: Lind 13-40, Arencibia 0-18, Lawrie 1-16, Davis 2-14, Rasmus 2-10, Gose 3-7, Reyes 2-6, Kawasaki 1-5, Sierra 1-3. Stat of the Day: Buchholz is 9-4 in 16 career starts against the Blue Jays with a 2.41 ERA, holding their hitters to a batting avg. of .207. Notes: Jarrod Saltalamacchia needs one double to tie Carlton Fisk's team record (39 in 1978) for doubles by a primary catcher ... Dustin Pedroia has an extra-base hit in five straight games ... Toronto has lost 7 of its last 10 games and is 7-10 vs. Boston this season ... Mark Buehrle has given up two runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts ... NESN announced former Red Sox pitcher Mike Timlin will be the analyst alongside Don Orsillo for broadcasts of the games next week at Colorado and Baltimore ... Tickets for the ALDS playoff games at Fenway Park go on sale Tuesday at noon on redsox.com and by phone at 888-733-7696, but not at the Fenway Park box office.

Big story in the Hartford Courant this morning about how tonight's game is UConn's biggest ever - for many reasons. I've been listening to the same songs I use to pump myself up for my games all day, and I'll be taking off at around 6.

I'm going to call up FOX and ask them to fire McCarver and Buck and replace them with Vin Scully and Orsillo if the Sox and Dodgers meet in the WS.