Quicke Cuppa Sports Chowdah Update- Phil In The Blanks, Doc Holliday Throws No-No in NLDS Game 1; Pats Gather No More Moss

AP Photo

And there we were watching history with the sound off.

Long story short, I get together with some friends at the friendly neighborhood cantina for some Sam Adams and so I can show them the pricey and tax-free goodies I picked up while I was in New Hampshire last month. There's a flat screen over the bar that's showing the NFL network, and almost as an afterthought I ask the bartender if they can change it to the Reds/Phillies game. The barkeep obliged and we tuned in just in time to see Shane Victorino steal third and come home on a Chase Utley sac-fly in the bottom of the first.

By the time the bottom of the second rolls around, it's pretty clear that Cincinnati's Edinson Volquez isn't long for this game as he put two runners on with two away and facing his counterpart, Roy Halliday. The Philly starter helped out his own cause with the lumber when he hit an RBI single to shallow left to make it a 2-0 game. Volquez then walked Jimmy Rollins to put the Philly ace at 2nd and load them up once again. Shane Victorino then hit a 2-RBI single in which a jacket-wearing Halliday scored from 2nd before Reds manager Dusty Baker decided to pull Volquez for Travis Wood.

For those of us at the cantina who no longer had a dog in the fight, our attention began to turn to the more mundane such as the pricey shit I purchased in New Hampshire (did I mention it was tax-free) and vacation pictures that came out alot better than I thought. With the sound off, none of us gave the game on the TV much thought....until I happened to look up and see that TBS was flashing a graphic that pointed out the last time a postseason starter threw 7 no-hit innings was the Red Sox's Jim Longborg in Game 2 of the 1967 World Series against St. Louis. We figured that they wouldn't bother pointing that out unless Halliday was throwing a no-no.

Sure enough he was. The only runner he allowed was Reds outfielder Jay Bruce with a 5th inning walk. Halliday successfully continued mowing 'em down into the 9th, where he faced Reds 2B Brandon Phillips. Phillips chopped an 0-2 offering in front of home plate and sprinted towards first as Philly C Carlos Ruiz tore off his mask and deftly plucked the ball up from next to the bat laying down on the infield and managed to throw to 1B Ryan Howard in time for the final out of the game.

This marks the first postseason no-hitter since October 1956 when Don Larsen threw a perfect game for the Yankees against the then Brooklyn Dodgers in the '56 World Series.

OTHER MLB PLAYOFF GAMES: DJ Kitty was unable to weave his magic for Game 1 down in Tampa Bay. Cliff Lee got out of some early jams against the Rays and the Rangers win game one of that series 5-1.

The Yankees came from behind to win the first playoff game at Target Field in Minnesota by a 6-4 score.

Game one of the Division series between the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves get underway tomorrow night at 9:35PM Eastern time.

ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Not surprisingly, there's been some managerial shakeups with the end of the regular season upon us. Ken Macha's been dismissed as Brewer's manager while the Pittsburgh Pirates fired manager John Russel after 3 seasons. In New York, Mets GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel were fired on Monday.

NFL: The biggest bit of sports news before Roy Halliday got Brandon Phillips to ground out in the 9th inning was the departure of WR Randy Moss from New England. The mercurial wide receiver departed for the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday in exchange for their 3rd round draft pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. So now he's the Viking's problem.

Moss was likely dissatisfied with his current contract status (a 3 year deal that would've finished up at the end of the year) while Brady, Banta-Cain and Gostowski among others received contract extensions. This in turn lead to all sorts of speculation about his future in New England and reportedly some loud exchanges with teammates and coaching staff. On the Minnesota end of the deal, Brett Farve was reportedly lobbying the Viking management to put in an offer for Moss.

Randy Moss is expected to start in time for the Monday Night game against the NY Jets and will return to Foxboro with the Vikings on Halloween [I used to scoff at the notion that the NFL is scripted, but nowadays, I sometimes pause- NANESB!].

Personally, I'm not glad to see him go, but if he doesn't want to stay then why bother forcing the issue. The Krafts managed to get a few relatively drama-free years from Moss, which was a few more than I anticipated when the trade from Oakland was announced in 2007.

ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: The Buffalo Bills traded RB Marshawn Lynch to the Seattle Seahawks for a pair of undisclosed draft picks earlier this week.