When the Major League Baseball playoffs finally begin, wins and losses don’t matter anymore. October baseball is all about pitching and which team can put together 11 victories to win the World Series.

Yet, sometimes wins and losses can make all the difference. 6-20: the record for the Minnesota Twins against the New York Yankees including playoffs in the last three seasons. The Twins rebounded to take two games from the men in pinstripes this season after losing all 10 games against the Yankees last year, including a three game sweep in last year’s American League Division Series.

This year, the Twins have home field advantage, a rabid bunch of fans to fill Target Field and the knowledge that the Yankees are beatable.

The date was May 16, 2010. The Twins were down 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth and on the verge of being swept out of the Bronx with the Yankees soon-to-be Hall of Fame closer, Mariano Rivera,  on the mound. The Twins had the bases loaded and two outs.

Then, Jason Kubel gave Twins fans hope.

Kubel clobbered a grand slam to the short porch in right field to give the Twins a 6-3 lead and the Twins’s first win against the Yankees in 10 tries during the regular season.

Will that little bit of confidence be enough? The Twins have the best home record in the American League, but can they continue to win in October without All-Star first baseman Justin Morneau? Can the Twins’ pitching staff compete with the Yankees All-Star staff of CC Sabathia, Andy Pettite and Phil Hughes, who were all All-Stars and went a combined 50-18 this season?

The Twins better play their best baseball in order to defeat the defending World Series Champions if they hope to move on to the American League Championship Series or even the World Series.

As for the other American League playoff series, the Tampa Bay Rays play the Texas Rangers. The Rays come in with the best record in the majors along with one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. The Rangers, however, have arguably the league MVP of this season in Josh Hamilton.

However, the question that has to be answered for the Rangers is if southpaws Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson, along with right-hander Colby Lewis, can match up with David Price, James Shields and Matt Garza for the Rays.

The Rangers have the worst road record of the American League playoff contenders, which doesn’t bode well for them in a short five game series starting in Tampa.

On the National League side, the Philadelphia Phillies appear to be the favorite after struggling through the first half of the season and coming on strong after their trade deadline acquisition of Roy Oswalt.

Oswalt bolsters a staff led by Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels along with an experienced team, which has won the NL pennant the last three seasons.
The Phillies host the Cincinnati Reds, who had an upstart season thanks to a talented, young pitching staff and a balanced offense.

Joey Votto and veteran Scott Rolen lead the Reds on offense, but the Reds have numerous other offensive contributors in Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, Johnny Gomes and Drew Stubbs.

However, what the Reds don’t have is experience playing in the postseason for either their offense or their pitching staff. Will experience be the deciding factor in this playoff series between the veteran Phillies and the young Reds?

The other National League playoff series features the NL West Champion San Francisco Giants against the Wild Card winning Atlanta Braves. The Giants, led by pitchers Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Matt Cain, enter the playoffs after a monumental collapse by the San Diego Padres, who led the division for nearly the length of the season.

The Giants are benefiting from an offensive boost provided by rookie Buster Posey. Posey is one of the contenders for the league’s NL Rookie of the Year award and has helped reignite the Giants offense.

The Braves have a Rookie of the Year contender of their own in outfielder Jason Heyward. Heyward leads the stumbling Braves into the playoffs after the Phillies captured the NL East crown.

The bigger story for the Braves will be if legendary manager Bobby Cox can go out on top. Cox plans to retire at the end of the season but will try to win his second managerial World Series Championship with the Braves before retiring. Cox ranks fourth on the all-time wins list for managers.

Bring on October baseball.

2010 MLB Playoff Predictions

American League Division Series
Twins over Yankees    3-2
Rangers over Rays      3-1

American League Championship Series
Twins over Rangers    4-2

National League Division Series
Phillies over Reds      3-1
Giants over Braves     3-1

National League Championship Series
Phillies over Giants       4-3

World Series
Phillies over Twins     4-3