Five Cuts: Lowe becomes ace and leader for Dodgers

Derek Lowe beat the Cubs in Game 1 of the NLDS and will try to do the same to the Phillies in the NLCS opener. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

1. Before NLDS Game 3, Los Angeles pitcher Derek Lowe asked manager Joe Torre, "Are we going to have a meeting?" When Torre said yes, Lowe said, "Good. I want to talk."

Lowe stood in front of his teammates, with the Dodgers leading the Cubs two games to none, and said, "Listen, I've been down 0-2, 0-2 and 0-3 and we've won the series each time: [against] Cleveland, Oakland and New York. All we needed each time was a reason to think we were going to win. Right now they [the Cubs] know they're in trouble, and they're looking for a reason to think they can win. Don't give it to them. I've seen teams leading 2-0, 3-0 all of a sudden start changing their game. I don't want to see that. I don't want you to think, 'Oh, it's OK if we lose this one because we'll just get 'em tomorrow.' Don't give them any reason to think they can win."

The Dodgers closed out the series with an airtight 3-1 win. Lowe has emerged as a leader and the staff ace for a club that thought Brad Penny or, going back further, Jason Schmidt would fill that role. In his past 10 starts, including the NLDS, Lowe is 6-1 with a 1.13 ERA while -- and this is big when you play Philadelphia, especially in Citizens Bank Ballpark -- allowing just two home runs to 243 batters.

2. The NLCS shapes up as a close, intriguing series. Philadelphia and Los Angeles ranked as the two best bullpens in the league during the season. The Phillies have the left-handed bats to match up well against the right-hand-dominant Dodgers, who thoroughly exposed the lack of balance in the Cubs' lineup. But the Dodgers have the hot starting pitchers who are rested, throw groundballs and can go deep into the games, reminiscent of the 2005 White Sox staff.

Remember, the NLCS has an extra off day dropped into it. That means Torre can use just three starting pitchers -- Lowe, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda -- and even if the series goes seven games only once will one of his starters have to go on short rest. And that would be Lowe in Game 4, which doesn't bother the Dodgers at all. Lowe, a sinkerballer, would have gone on short rest in NLDS Game 4 if it had been played.

3. That was a rare win by the White Sox in ALDS Game 3. It was only the 10th time this year they won a game without hitting a home run, and the first time since Sept. 10. Chicago was 9-31 in games without a home run during the regular season.

4. Major League Baseball and team officials will meet after the World Series to discuss how to prepare for the effect of the global financial downturn on baseball. "So far we've been very fortunate," said one MLB official. "But we have to prepare it." You know it's a belt-tightening world when General Motors pulls out of advertising in the Super Bowl (and Emmy Awards). Teams will have to be extremely careful about raising ticket prices in this economic climate.

5. Has Boston catcher Jason Varitek finished giving his signs yet with a man on second base? That ALDS Game 3 was nearly unwatchable because of how much time Varitek took giving signals and running out to the mound to talk to Josh Beckett seemingly every other pitch (and to a lesser extent, Mike Napoli chatting with Joe Saunders). Carlton Fisk was never that bad. I know how important these games are and I know each pitch is important, but come on, there has to be some limit to the conferencing. The general managers should have some discussion about it at their meetings next month. If the coach and manager are limited on mound visits, why not the catcher? Can you get through an inning without, say, four visits to the mound by the catcher?