Staff Predictions -- League Championship Series

With baseball's League Championship Series starting over the next two days, the VendorBall staff will -- of course -- chime in with our picks for each series, starting with the Junior Circuit.

American League Championship Series
Boston Red Sox (Wild Card) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (East Champion)

Dan Picks: Boston in Seven
Why: Experience will outlast exuberance. I originally had Boston in five, but Tampa Bay has shown that they can hang with the powerhouses. The Red Sox have been there before, and while the Rays will put up one hell of a fight, Jon Lester is slated to take the ball in Game Seven. Boston will steal a game in Tampa Bay and come home with a split. Lester will quiet the Tampa / St. Pete crowd in the deciding game as the Red Sox move on to their second consecutive World Series.

Kyle Picks: Boston in Six
Why: Some may be wondering why, after getting the match-up I expected in the ALCS, I changed my mind out the outcome. The teams did not change, and the Rays actually looked better than the Sox in the first round, despite facing a weaker opponent. So why have I done such a John Kerry-esque flip-flop? The Red Sox are the Champs. I was reminding forcibly of that fact last round, when the Sox took a 1-8 record against the Angels into Los Angeles and took both games without so much as flinching. It's easy to forget, over the course of a long baseball season, but the Red Sox are the defending World Champions (I do still love saying it). And despite having a less-than favorable match-up, you got to go with the champs. I'll even do a game breakdown on this one, the Sox go: L, W, W, L, W, W.
Beckett's line for the clincher: 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 K. Remember you heard it here first.

National League Championship Series
Los Angeles Dodgers (West Champion) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (East Champion)

Dan Picks: Los Angeles in Five
Why: They’re just too hot. Cole Hamels has a win in him, but he’s also matched up against Derek Lowe, who is on quite a streak of his own. Hamels and Lowe will split their two contests, and the Dodgers will take the middle three games. Manny Ramirez will, of course, lead the charge as the Dodgers book their tickets to Fenway Park. Think there might be a storyline or two heading into that World Series?

Kyle Picks: Los Angeles in Five
Why: The LA Dodgers are playing some inspired baseball. Behind our former idiot, Manny, the team has rallied around into Manny's attitude: laid back, carefree, hard-playing. Of course, the Phillies have the best pitcher in this series (Cole Hamels), as well as a stifling bullpen. The Phillies also have a better lineup: Victorino, Utley, Howard, Burrell over Kemp, Manny, Ethier, Martin. But the baseball Gods work in strange ways. This World Series needs to be Sox-Dodgers, I can feel it. Manny carries this team offensively, and the Dodgers have a deep and talented pitching staff - as we saw while they ran over the Cubs. The Dodgers are hot, and this is the right time to be a hot ballclub.