Five Cuts: Dice-K has backup

Daisuke Matsuzaka finished tied for fourth in the AL with 18 wins but was just 31st in innings pitched. AP 2008 Division Series   Game 2: Dodgers 10, Cubs 3 | HEYMAN Game 2: Phillies 5, Brewers 2 | CHEN Game 1: Rays 6, ChiSox 4 | DONOVAN Game 1: Red Sox 4, Angels 1 | JENKINS BP: Rays-White Sox | Red Sox-Angels Gallery: Best Division Series moments Complete MLB Postseason Coverage

1. Thanks to the Angels choosing to play the ALDS schedule with the extra off day, the Red Sox have a fully rested bullpen behind starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game 2. Good thing. Matsuzaka did win 18 games, but he did so with the fewest innings for a starter with that many wins in baseball history, his 167 2/3 innings being a shade less than what Storm Davis needed to win 19 games for the 1989 A's. Matsuzaka pitched seven innings only eight times this season, and who could forget his start in the ALDS last year against the Angels? Actually, most everyone could forget it; Matsuzaka threw 96 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. The Red Sox still won that game, 6-3. It may be excruciating to watch, but Matsuzaka can do his usual nibbling around the plate with his pitches in Game 2, and the Sox, as they did last year, still have a rested bullpen in place if he gives them another short start.

2. What happened to the prime of the career of Javier Vazquez? It never happened. The White Sox right-hander is now 32 years old and has a career record of 127-129, with ERAs worse than the league average in three of the past five years. There are no injuries to blame. Except for his ability to make every start, he is a most ordinary pitcher when, after winning 16 games at age 25, he looked like he would be extraordinary. His blowup Thursday in ALDS Game 1 added to his reputation as a poor big-game pitcher. The White Sox can't feel great knowing that he will get the ball again against Tampa Bay if they can extend the series that far.

3. Evan Longoria looks like the breakout star of the postseason. Yes, he will win the AL Rookie of the Year Award, so he wasn't exactly an unknown, but the Tampa Bay third baseman is showing off his huge talent and poise on the national stage. One GM told me Longoria will be an annual 40-home run hitter and that he'd rather have Longoria than any young position player in baseball -- and that was when the kid was hitting .230 back in May. What's so impressive is Longoria plays the game with such a calm assertiveness it looks like he has 10 years in the majors already.

4. Cubs manager Lou Piniella buried his right fielder, Kosuke Fukudome, after NLDS Game 2, announcing in brutally frank terms Fukudome would be benched, an unceremonious move that can't go over well in Japan. But the truth is Fukudome is a big part of what is wrong with the Cubs: They need a legitimate left-handed hitter badly, and he's not close to being the answer. Look at what Dodgers manager Joe Torre did in Game 2: With Fukudome due up, rather than bring in left-handed reliever Joe Beimel to face Reed Johnson, who would have pinch-hit for Fukudome, Torre brought in right-handed reliever Corey Wade to make sure Fukudome stayed in the game. Fukudome grounded out, extending his hitless NLDS.

The Dodgers have played nine games and thrown 79 1/3 innings against the Cubs this year, and have yet to use a left-hander to throw even a single pitch against them. What does that mean? The Cubs don't have a left-handed hitter good enough to merit the opposing manager even trying to gain the platoon advantage. Meanwhile, the NLDS turned because of the Game 1 grand slam by James Loney, exactly the kind of hitter the Cubs need. Loney and Andre Ethier give balance to the Los Angeles lineup and are adept enough at hitting left-hander's that Torre doesn't bother hitting for them late in games.

5. White Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera was way out of line to show up Tampa Bay reliever Grant Balfour in ALDS Game 1 by kicking dirt in front of home plate -- after a pitch that was far outside. What the heck was he thinking? Balfour works off emotion and adrenaline, and Cabrera only agitated Balfour even more. Balfour promptly whiffed Cabrera. Balfour, 30, pitching for his third team, has suddenly emerged as a major force in the Tampa Bay bullpen. His stuff is so good that he is essentially a closer who doesn't pitch the ninth inning.

Here are the lowest rates of walks plus hits per inning among relievers this year:

1. Mariano Rivera, 0.665
2. Joakim Soria, 0.861
3. Grant Balfour, 0.891