I look at the series between the A’s and the Angels and the Giants and the Dodgers as a playoff type match up. Meaning the whole pitching staff comes into play as well as the bench.

The A’s have seven more with Anaheim and the Giants have six with LA.

Today, Ted Lilly makes his bid for a meaningful role in the postseason for Oakland, while Kevin Brown replaces Andy Ashby for LA.

Both the A’s and the Giants played as they had for the past two weeks last night using clutch pitching, timely home runs, and great relief to win their games.

Both the Giants and the A’s should get to the postseason as the teams they are trying to eliminate are struggling at the wrong time, namely LA and Seattle.

Here’s a look at today.The A’s went to school in Minnesota and learned that lefthanders completely handcuff the Twins, especially in the Metrodome.

Now, Barry Zito and Mark Mulder aren’t ordinary lefties, but if Ted Lilly can give the A’s any reasonable pitching over the next three weeks, then he is a better bet for a win than Cory Lidle against the Twins. Plus, Billy Beane can’t wait to show off his latest acquisition on the big stage. Tonight, expect three to four innings from Lilly, then hope for the best from Mike Fyhrie or Aaron Harang.

Terrence Long comes through quite often in big games. I like that about him. Long’s home run sealed the deal for the A’s and gave Tim Hudson one run to work with, enough for Hudson when he is on his game, which he was last night.

Ricardo Rincon not only got two big outs in the eighth inning, but held pinch runner Chone Figgans so close to the bag that the speedy pinch runner was thrown out by Ramon Hernandez on a steal attempt to end the 8th inning.

Rincon is the most important addition to the A’s bull pen since Billy Koch was picked up in December.

Miguel Tejada made a great defensive play setting up a double play, to get Hudson out of a jam.

Say what you want out about Alfonso Soriano and Jason Giambi, but neither can play defense with the impact Tejada does night after night.

Tonight’s Angel starter, Ramon Ortiz gives up homers, the A’s hit homers.

By winning the first game of the series, the A’s can relax a little going into tonight’s game. The only thing the A’s have to worry about is a sweep, and that isn’t going to happen in this series, unless it’s the Angels getting blanked.

Anaheim is tough, they hit and they are not going to be shaken by one loss, so with 19 to go in this race, tonight’s game is just another step towards the finish line.

Texas dealt Seattle another body blow coming back from an early 4-0 deficit to win the game behind two A Rod homers (53) and six RBI’s plus a Rafael Palmiero home run (number 40), too.

Any team playing Texas in Arlington has to be wary of the Rangers. They are hitting the ball and seem intent on knocking someone out of the race. It’s Seattle’s bad luck to be first into Arlington.

When Jamie Moyer can’t get the job done against the Rangers, you know it is tough times for the Mariners. I don’t like to jump to conclusions, but Seattle looks like a beaten team to me, from top to bottom.

Joel Pineiro, the best Seattle has to offer goes against Kenny Rogers who has had success against the Mariners in the past. Texas should rebuild first in the bull pen, then they might have something next season.

The Giants got a decent game from Livan Hernandez last night. What I liked about the game was that Dusty Baker got Livan out before the righty wore himself out. When Hernandez leaves with less than 120 pitches thrown, you know Dusty sees something.

Barry Bonds crushed the ball to dead center to start the scoring. Bonds has got to be one -two in the MVP race if the Giants make it into the playoffs. The Dodgers are led by Shawn Green and not much else. Adrian Beltre and Paul LoDuca don’t hit with enough power to scare anybody.

You can’t overlook David Bell when analyzing the 2002 Giants season. Bell killed the A’s last year time after time with clutch two out hits. He has 20 home runs and every one has meant something, he is a key part of the team and quite a player, Seattle misses him.

Kevin Brown replaces Ashby tonight. Scouts say that Brown is throwing tem miles per hour slower than normal and doesn’t have his good slider.

Hey, the guy had back surgery last month, what do they expect?

Anyway, Jason Schmidt can bring home the bacon tonight for SF with any reasonable effort on the mound. The Giants bull pen is still shaky, which is not good news for Baker.

How about Atlanta? Eleven NL East titles in a row. Bobby Cox will be in the Hall of Fame someday, even if he never wins another World Series.

St. Louis wlecomes back Matt Morris tonight. St. Louis has made a believer out of me, and they need their staff ace to go anywhere in the playoffs. I think they are a very dangerous dark horse in October. Their lack of big name pitching will keep critics busy downplaying their chances, but this team wins when it has to, and for me that means a lot.

The A’s remind me of the Braves, in that the A’s have the three stud pitchers who can get the team through the playoffs. The trick will be making sure they pitch in the all the crucial games. The trio, Mulder, Hudson, and Zito don’t pitch on three days rest, something you have to be prepared to do in October.

Art Howe and pitching coach Rick Peterson have avoided using them on three days rest in the past, this Fall it’s time to let the boys grow up and try to win a World Series.

I believe the A’s can do it, if the pitchers are given the chance.

Game two tonight, there is still a long way to go, but it was a good start for the Bay Area teams.