Jason Schmidt set the bar Tuesday for all the starting pitchers in the playoffs with a complete game shut out over the Marlins.

Both Schmidt and Josh Beckett pitched power games, but walks to Barry Bonds led to both San Francisco runs and were the keys to the Giants offense.

The Marlins strategy of walking Bonds with two outs in the eighth led to an insurance run when Bonds got to second base on a botched pickoff between Chad Fox and Derek Lee (he scored on a ball Juan Pierre should have caught in center). Defense wins championships and the Marlins threw a ball away on a bunt attempt with two on, leading to the Giants first run.

However, the story of the game was Schmidt who was throwing 95 in the ninth inning as usual. Now, the Marlins must beat Sidney Ponson or face a 2-0 deficit on Friday in Miami. Ponson will be easier to hit than Schmidt, no picnic, but easier than Schmidt, arguably the best pitcher in the league. Wednesday the Giants bullpen will play a role as will the Miami pen behind Brad Penny.

The Yankees weren’t very good Tuesday either.

Click below and I’ll explain why!The Yankees normally like to open at night at home before a very loud noisy crowd. The Cubs knocked the Yanks out of prime time and relegated them to a less dramatic afternoon opener. I’m told the afternoon crowd enthusiasm in NY was less than stellar.

The Yanks defense let them down. Bernie Williams days in center are coming to an end because of his chronic knee injuries. Alfonso Soriano is the centerfielder of the future (he is trouble at second base), at least until Carlos Beltran gets there. Both Yankees had key defensive lapses during the game.

The Twins played good baseball and again beat a righthander, Mike Mussina who didn’t pitch badly. Eddie Guardado is now “Entertainment Eddie” in addition to “Everyday Eddie” because he puts so many runners on base that every save becomes an entertaining adventure for the fans. Guardado hung on and the Twins behind a good bullpen, LaTroy Hawkins especially, beat the Yanks in game one.

Shannon Stewart again had a big impact in a Twins win, making a great catch saving an extra base hit off the bat off Hideki Matsui with a runner on in the ninth.

It’s only one game, but we saw what Minnesota did to Oakland last year and the Yanks better wake the bats up and play good ball too, before heading to the Metrodome this weekend.

Kerry Wood carried the Cubs for 7 1/3 innings before turning ball over to the bullpen. Mike Remlinger got a key out, then Kyle Farnsworth ended the eighth, before Joe Borowski closed the game.

Wood was dominant and continuously threw the big pitch when he needed it. Russ Ortiz refuses to throw the ball over the heart of the plate until it is absolutely necessary. He did to Kerry Wood, when he didn’t have to with two on (Wood doubled), and it cost him the game. The Braves offense didn’t click and that was the story of the game, too much Kerry Wood.

Great pitching stopped great hitting!

Now, with Carlos Zambrano next up for the Cubs, the pressure is on Mike Hampton to shut the door until the Braves can get some runs on the board. This game should see more runs and more pitchers participating.

Other news: Eddie Murray is one of the names bandied about to replace Mike Hargrove in Baltimore. Eddie is not media friendly and would be a horrible mistake if the Orioles choose him as manager. Managing today means dealing with the tough questions everyday and explaining your moves to the press, Murray has trouble saying hello to the media, let alone answering any questions. He would have trouble by March 1st.

Jim Palmer is another name surfacing today in Baltimore. Palmer would be the media’s dream as manager, but I’m not sure that today’s players will respond to Palmers frank criticism.

Rick Dempsey, an Oriole at heart, would be a better choice, if he had a good bench coach who could help him in his first shot as a big league manager, he would do fine running his favorite team.

Where will Pudge Rodriguez end up next season? Rodriguez has regained his spot as one of the top few catchers in the game and could end up with the Mets with Mike Piazza moving to first base.

Pat Gillick out as GM in Seattle, no surprise, especially after his blow up with Edgar Martinez last week in Anaheim. Leads me to believe that ownership won’t let the GM make the necessary midseason deals to win and it wasn’t Gillick’s fault that he didn’t add some hitting, same cheap attitude drove Lou Piniella out last year too.

Johann Santana should be fine for his next start in game four, if necessary, on Sunday. He had similar cramps just one month ago and missed a couple of days.

The strategy of walking Barry Bonds at times when the game isn’t on the line will sink the Marlins if they keep doing it. In a series which will be close, it gives the Giants guaranteed rallies and forces the Marlins pitchers to pitch out of the stretch which is always less effective than throwing from the windup. It’s baseball and at some point you have to just get him out the old fashioned way, that is until late in the game.

The teams that played the best baseball won today, certain pitchers came up big: Jason Schmidt, Josh Beckett, Kerry Wood, Joe Borowski, LaTroy Hawkins, Johann Santana and Mike Mussina, all this bodes well for exciting games four and five, if this group gets back on the hill and we haven’t even seen Pedro Martinez or Tim Hudson yet, who knows that series (A’s-Red Sox) may be the best of all.

Remember game three is the key especially if the first game losers even the series today and Thursday.

Great baseball!