1.   First-round sweeps have that affect on a team.

2.   His final full season resulted in a National League West title, but a first-round sweep.

3.   It continues against the Marlins, who also posted a first-round sweep with three straight wins over the San Francisco Giants.

4.   Last year, their swagger gone, their sanity questionable, they buckled under in a first-round sweep.

5.   New York, which dominated the Texas Rangers in a first-round sweep, had trouble cashing in on scoring chances early against the Red Sox.

6.   That includes a pair of first-round sweeps on the way to back-to-back championships.

7.   The Knicks were coming off a league-record nine-day layoff after their first-round sweep of Charlotte.

8.   The Suns will be looking for their second first-round sweep in two years.

9.   They have lost five straight regular-season games in Toronto, though they won there once last year in a first-round sweep of the Raptors.

10.   With a first-round sweep of Portland, the Lakers re-established their championship credentials.