After a couple of nights of wild card action Chris Hatcher Jersey , the "real" playoffs get going on Thursday night. those games, of course - except for the Y..."After a couple of nights of wild card action, the “real” playoffs get going on Thursday night. Not to take anything away from the teams who competed in those games, of course - except for the Yankees, because screw those guys forever - but it’s just not the same until you get to at least a best of five series. Weird things can still happen in a best of five or best of seven and the lesser team can end up winning. It’s just a less likely outcome. I find the drama more interesting when it’s spread over a week rather than condensed into one night.Each of the National League Division Series matchups begins on Thursday. The Rockies and Brewers start things off with a scheduled 5:07 first pitch. That will air on Fox Sports 1. Later, the Braves and the Dodgers will get going at 8:37 on MLB Network.The expected starting pitchers are:Rockies: Antonio SentazelaBrewers: Brandon WoodruffBraves: Mike FoltynewiczDodgers: Hyun-Jin RyuAs my default stance is to treat both National League baseball and baseball played west of Frederick as being beneath my notice http://www.athleticsfanproshop.com/authentic-khris-davis-jersey , I can’t say that I have ever spent any time thinking about either Sentazela or Woodruff before right this moment as I compose this open thread post. We can learn about them together as these games go along.The Brewers starting lineup, which does not include Jonathan Schoop:Lorenzo Cain - CFChristian Yelich - RFRyan Braun - LFTravis Shaw - 2BJesus Aguilar - 1BMike Moustakas - 3BManny Pina - COrlando Arcia - SSBrandon Woodruff - RHPNotably, Woodruff started only four games for the Brewers during the regular season, with 15 games pitched in relief. The Brewers are going with a bullpen game in Game 1. Good luck to them, if they deserve luck since they don’t even have Schoop playing.The Rockies starting lineup:Charlie Blackmon - CFDJ LeMahieu - 2BNolan Arenado - 3BDavid Dahl - LFTrevor Story - SSCarlos Gonzalez - RFIan Desmond - 1BChris Iannetta - CAntonio Sentazela - RHP FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Dustin Pedroia feels ready for opening day. Considering what it took to get to that point Boog Powell Jersey , the Boston Red Sox are erring on the side of caution.Pedroia will miss Boston’s opener for the second straight season, staying in extended spring training to rehab his left knee, on which he had surgeries each of the past two offseasons. Pedroia, a key figure for the Red Sox during most of his 13-year career, believes he’s ready to go but understands why the reigning World Series champions are hesitant.“It is what it is,” he said. “I don’t think the team was expecting me to come in and look the way I look Giancarlo Stanton Jersey , so they just want to make sure they do it right. That’s basically it. They’ve had to hold me back. I mean, I’m ready for opening day. It’s just that they’re scared. No one’s ever come back from something like this.”The 2008 AL MVP started at second base against the split-squad Rays on Thursday night and will play in some of the remaining exhibition games in Florida and when Boston travels to Arizona to play the Cubs on Monday and Tuesday.The team just isn’t confident he could be ready for the season opener March 28 against the Mariners in Seattle.“We’re running out of time,” manager Alex Cora said. “There’s been no setbacks, nothing out of the ordinary. It’s just that we feel we need more time to do the back-to-backs, more innings. There’s no target date (for his activation).”Cora wants to keep Pedroia progressing steadily. The 35-year-old Pedroia has three years remaining on a $110 million, eight-year contract Derek Jeter Jersey , and Boston wants to get as many games out of him in that time as possible.“This is not only for this year,” Cora said. “It’s a plan for three years. We need him to keep playing and he’ll be OK.”“I feel like I’m ready, but they want to see how my knee responds when I (play back-to-back games),” Pedroia said. “Which I understand. I appreciate that. So, we’ll just go from there.”