How hot are the Rockies? The Yankees' main problem

Kaz Matsui belted his first career grand slam and fell a single short of the cycle. Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

1. For those of you screaming for your team to trade for a starting pitcher who can take your team to the playoffs, check this out: Of the 29 pitchers scheduled to make starts at the beginning of this postseason, only six were acquired in trades: Josh Beckett, Jake Westbrook, Doug Davis, Livan Hernandez, Jamie Moyer and Kyle Lohse (who might not get a start now). Teams just don't move quality starters very much any more.

2. Just how scorching are the Rockies? They've gone 16-1 against 14 different starting pitchers, losing only to Brandon Webb in the past 19 days. And don't overlook the importance of getting a quick lead in this hot streak. They've scored the first run in 14 of the 17 games in this run.

3. You know the Rockies are working with some ridiculously strong karma when Kaz Matsui goes all Babe Ruth on the Phillies. Matsui did not hit a home run on the road the entire season and had never hit one in his career with the bases loaded; but there he was breaking open Game 2 with a slam in Philly. Matsui joined Lou Brock (1968 World Series, Game 4) as the only players ever to miss a postseason cycle by a single. (No one has cycled in the postseason.) He is just the fifth leadoff hitter with five RBIs in a postseason game. Come to think of it, even the Babe never drove in five in October.

4. Can we cool the A-Rod postseason storyline a bit, please? The Yankees are 3-11 in their past 14 postseason games because of one reason: Their starting pitching has been brutal. Here are the numbers for New York's starters in those 14 games:

• Average start: 5 innings
• Starts less than six innings: 8
• Wins with at least seven innings: 0

5. I realize TBS needs to sell in-game sponsorships, but that virtual nine-foot measuring stick for first-base leads has got to go. It's instructive of nothing, even confusing, at worse. It's purely a gimmick and everybody knows it. Give me something useful, such as pitchers' release time to home plate out of the stretch.