Turn out the lights, the party’s over.  The Marlins lost the season finale yesterday to the Mets, 4-2 and this nightmarish season of discontent is finally done.  A season that was full of expectation and hope went down the drain quickly.  I truly believed that the Marlins and the Red Sox would have similar records this season, but little did I imagine that they would both finish 69-93 and in last place in their respective divisions.  Lots and lots of changes to come.  The Marlins are internally discussing (again) whether or not to fire manager Ozzie Guillen.  Are Larry Beinfest and Mike Hill going to survive this year’s bloodletting?  Just go out and build a team around Stanton (sign him long-term, already), Reyes and Bonifacio, bring in a couple of QUALITY players and QUALITY people, while incorporating young talent like Donovan Solano, Justin Ruggiano, and Rob Brantly.  Get rid of the dead weight (you know who they are) and be smart this offseason.    

The Yankees got two homers each from Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano and they beat the Red Sox into submission, 14-2, to clinch the AL East title, their 13th division championship in the last 17 years.  The Orioles lost to Tampa Bay, 4-1, thanks to three homers by Evan Longoria.  Can you imagine what the standings would have looked like if Longoria didn’t miss almost 90 games this season due to injury?  Over in the AL West, the Oakland A’s finished off an incredible comeback, sweeping their three-game series against the Rangers to win the division by one game.  The Rangers will host the Orioles tomorrow night in the Wild Card play-in game.  The Yankees will take on the winner of that game, while the Detroit Tigers will play Oakland in the other division series.  Over in the National League, Fredi Gonzalez will lead his Atlanta Braves against the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card game tomorrow.  Game time in Atlanta is 5:00 pm, and the first pitch for the Orioles and Rangers game in Arlington will be at 8:30 pm.

Miguel Cabrera became the first player to win the Triple Crown since 1967.  Miggy ended the season with a .330 average, 44 homers, and 139 RBI.  Mike Trout finished second in batting average, .324; Josh Hamilton and Curtis Granderson finished one home run behind Cabrera with 43, and Hamilton was second in RBI with 128.  Congratulations, Miggy.

It is very difficult to predict and pick winners in baseball, and almost impossible to pick a winner in a one-game setting.  Here goes.....

AL Wild Card

Baltimore Orioles @ Texas Rangers

The Rangers will send Yu Darvish to the mound, the O’s will counter with either rookie Steve Johnson or veteran lefty Joe Saunders.  Johnson is 4-0 with a 2.11 ERA in 12 games (four starts) and has never faced the Rangers.  Saunders has faced Texas in his career, but with very little success, as his 6.48 ERA in 11 starts would indicate.  Pitching in Arlington, Saunders’ ERA is even worse, 9.38.  Darvish has never faced the Orioles and finished 2012 with a 16-9 record, 221 strikeouts, and a 3.90 ERA. 

St. Louis Cardinals @ Atlanta Braves

Both teams will send out their hottest pitcher to the mound tomorrow.  Kyle Lohse went 16-3 with a 2.86 ERA this year, and faced the Braves once back on May 30, when he lasted 5 innings, and gave up 5 runs (2 earned), and 9 hits. Medlen faced the Cards in relief on May 28th, and allowed 2 runs and 4 hits in 2 2/3 innings.  Different pitcher as a starter, where this season he dominated with a 9-0 record and an ERA of 0.97, with a ratio of 84 strikeouts to only 10 walks.  The Braves set a major league record by winning 23 consecutive Medlen starts.  The old record belonged to the Yankees and Whitey Ford.   

My picks for these two wild card games?  The Rangers and the Braves.  

The ALDS playoff series:

The Rangers will take on the Yankees.  I’ll stick with the Yankees on this one.  

Tigers vs Oakland - I want to root for Oakland, but I believe the Tigers will prevail.  Too much experience, pitching, and talent.  

In the NLDS:

Braves - Nationals -  I’m sticking with the Braves. They will ride on Chipper Jones’ shoulders, but they need production from Bourn, Heyward, Freeman, McCann, and Uggla. If they score runs, they can be pretty hard to beat.

Giants vs Reds - I’ll stick with Cincinnati in this series, although I truly believe that the Giants pitching staff could make the difference.

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:   What year was the first radio broadcast of a entire World Series?  Tell you later, alligator.  

In college football this weekend, the FIU Panthers return to the field tonight, here at home, against the Arkansas State Red Wolves.  Kickoff is at 7:30 pm.  Catch the game on your smart phone or on your computer, www.fiusports.com.  I’ll be bringing you the play by play (in English) and Pete Pelegrin will have all the analysis.  The University of Miami will be in action again on saturday, when they take on the #9 team in the country, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, at Soldier Field in Chicago.  Game time for Miami - Notre Dame is 7:30 pm, and you can watch it on Channel 6, NBC in South Florida.  Some other games with possible national championship implications this Saturday include #3 LSU @ #10 Florida; #8 West Virginia @ #11 Texas; #5 Georgia @ #6 South Carolina, #3 Florida State @ NC State, and #23 Washington @ #2 Oregon.  The #1 team in the nation, Alabama, is off this week. 

The Miami Dolphins are busy preparing for their game this week in Cincinnati against the much-improved Bengals.  We’ve seen some positive signs this season from the Fins, including the play of QB Ryan Tannehill and WR Brian Hartline, who leads the league in receiving yards so far this year.  Defensively, they’re #1 in the NFL against the run.  Cornerback play is inconsistent, especially Richard Marshall.  Their best offensive lineman, Jake Long, is not playing at his usual level, and kicker Dan Carpenter is showing that he is human.  I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and it is not an oncoming train.  Game time is 1:00 pm and the game will be televised by CBS, Channel 4 in Miami.  

Reviewing the complete schedule this week in the NFL, with the latest point spreads:

THURSDAY

Arizona Cardinals @ St. Louis Rams StL +1 8:20 pm   NFL Network

SUNDAY

Miami Dolphins @ Cincinnati Bengals CIN -3.5 1:00 pm   CBS Channel 4

Green Bay Packers @ Indianapolis Colts IND +7 1:00 pm

Baltimore Ravens @ Kansas City Chiefs KC +5 1:00 pm

Cleveland Browns @ NY Giants NYG -9.5 1:00 pm

Philadelphia Eagles @ Pittsburgh Steelers  PIT -3.5 1:00 pm

Atlanta Falcons @ Washington Redskins WAS +3 1:00 pm

Seattle Seahawks @ Carolina Panthers CAR -3 4:05 pm

Chicago Bears @ Jacksonville Jaguars JAX +6 4:05 pm

Tennessee Titans @ Minnesota Vikings MIN -6 4:25 pm

Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots NE -6.5 4:25 pm

Buffalo Bills @ San Francisco 49ers SF -9.5 4:25 pm

San Diego Chargers @ New Orleans Saints NO -3.5 8:20 pm    NBC Channel 6

MONDAY

Houston Texans @ New York Jets NYJ +9 8:30 pm    ESPN

Bye week for the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Bucs

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  What year was the first radio broadcast of a entire World Series?  The 1922 World Series between the New York Yankees and the New York Giants.  BTW, the Giants beat the Yankees, 4 games to 0 in that series.    

The NBA Champions, the Miami Heat, tipoff the exhibition season against the Atlanta Hawks this Sunday at 2:00 pm in Atlanta.  Don’t look for either LeBron James or Dwayne Wade against the Hawks.  The team will then travel to China, for two games in Beijing against the Los Angeles Clippers.  Game times (Miami) for the China games are 7:30 am on Thursday, October 11, and 12:30 am on Sunday, October 14.  Both of those games will be televised on NBA-TV on your cable or satellite system.

Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com.  

Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.