And DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME! One more week till October

[Guest Edgy DC]

Reyes knew Kranepool wore 7; he probably knows Cedeño stole 66.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Edgy DC wrote: Reyes knew Kranepool wore 7; he probably knows Cedeño stole 66.

Your tilde looks funny.

Let me try it my way: �

[metirish]

Brewers now up 8 - 0.

[metirish]

Still raining in DC, Gary reckons they will have to wait all night to play that game, but really how long can they wait tonight?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

10:25 p.m. and they're still waiting out that rain delay in DC. The game hasn't even started yet. There are probably about 12 fans left in the ballpark.

Gary says they'll have to wait it out all night if they have to. Is there any precendent for a game starting after midnight local time?

I mean, I know they do it in Alaska in the middle of the summer. But in Washington DC in late September?

[Guest Edgy DC]

My co-worker is a guest of the Nats at the game, as one of four nominees in the "Come up with a Nationals tradition" contest.

[Frayed Knot]

Well, they're underway in Washington


Elsewhere;

* Twins get a tying HR in the 9th from the AL's leading hitter Joe Mauer (but he won't be MVP because he doesn't get clutch hits like Derek Jeter) and then a walk-off hit in the 10th to win their game against the Royals and tie the Tiggers for 1st place.
This actually kind of suxx because I'd rather see the Twins remain the WC and face the Yanx than the Tiggers - although I know the pitfalls of rooting for that kind of stuff.
Detroit still has the edge for the division lead since they'll be facing the Royals over the final weekend while the Twins go against the White Sox, plus the Tigers hold the head-to-head tie-breaker should the two teams finish even

* Reds win, Astros win, Cards lose!!
The once-huge StL lead is now down to 1/2 game
This would be bigger than the infamous 1964 Philly collapse.

* Dodgers win, but Padres also winning big as we speak.

[metirish]

So what's more amazin, the Astros run or the fall of the Cards?

[Gwreck]

Fall of the Cards I think.

CW says we root for LA to win the 'card and the Cards to pull it out by beating the Giants on Monday.

I don't think we want to face Philly or Houston in the playoffs. Dodgers winning the 'card ensures we avoid weekday afternoon playoff games in the first round.

[nymr83]

i'd personally like to avoid Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt, and Andy Pettite. the Astros have the scariest, if not the best, rotation among NL contenders

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Phillies starting to look like a longshot:

From the Associated Press:

]WASHINGTON (AP) -- The longest of nights produced the most painful of losses for the Philadelphia Phillies and dozens of their die-hard fans. The Phillies waited out a rain delay of nearly 4 1/2 hours at the start, then dropped a 3-1 decision to the Washington Nationals that left Philadelphia two games back in the NL wild-card race with only three games to play. While the Phillies were losing at Washington for the second time in three games, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Colorado 19-11 Thursday for their fourth straight win. "I've seen stranger things. ... Our heart's still beating, but it's getting there," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. His club finishes with three games in Florida.

Two out with three to play. That's where the 1985 Mets were after their memorable early October series in St. Louis.

[Frayed Knot]

It's also where the Mets were at in '99.
The difference then being that - because Houston & Cincy were tied for the Central lead/Wild Card - we only needed to make up 2 games on one team or the other. Having that 2nd team in the mix helps a lot.
So while we were sweeping the Pirates, Cincy was losing 2 or 3 to Milwaukee and Houston was winning 2 of 3 to (I forget).

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

] Florida lefthander throws down gauntlet By Todd Zolecki Inquirer Staff Writer Them's fightin' words. Scott Olsen, a rookie lefthander for the Florida Marlins who was ejected Sunday at Citizens Bank Park for hitting Abraham Nu�ez with a pitch after he surrendered three home runs and seven runs in the third inning of a 10-7 loss to the Phillies, said he had been happy to learn he wouldn't be suspended. "I want to make that start Saturday," Olsen told the Palm Beach Post on Wednesday. "I want to ruin the Phillies' season." Marlins righthander Brian Moehler is scheduled to face lefthander Jamie Moyer tonight at Dolphin Stadium, where the Phillies open their final series with the National League wild card still to be decided. Olsen will face lefthander Randy Wolf tomorrow afternoon. There were rumblings that Marlins lefthander Dontrelle Willis might not face righthander Brett Myers in Sunday's season finale because he had thrown 222 innings this year. But he is expected to pitch. There seemed to be little doubt that Willis would also like a shot at ending the Phillies' season. That appeared to be a Marlins theme. "I don't like them," reliever Taylor Tankersley told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "I don't want to see them get in... . At this point, that's our only motivation - to not let the Phillies get in."

[Frayed Knot]

Of course Philly could be done by tonight, rendering all this trash talking irrelevent.
Seems like this Olsen guy is rapidly gaining a rep as an asshole ... even among those NOT on his team.


Tonight:

* Astros @ Brave -- Clemens v James

* Cincy @ Pirates -- Harang v Duke

* Philly @ Marlins -- Moyer v Moehler

* Padres @ D'Backs -- Hensley v L. Hernandez

* Dodgers @ Giants -- (Kid Pro) Kuo v Lowry




[u:1b7a9d9794]Central[/u:1b7a9d9794]
StL
Houston .. -1/2
Cincy ...... -2-1/2

[u:1b7a9d9794]West[/u:1b7a9d9794]
Padres
Dodgers ... -1

[u:1b7a9d9794]Wild Card[/u:1b7a9d9794]
Dodgers
Philly ... -2

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Ooooh... Scott and Taylor! Will they be bringing along Josh and Cody? I'm so scared!

[metirish]

The Astros lose, St.Louis are winning by a big score....

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

]"I don't like them," reliever Taylor Tankersley told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "I don't want to see them get in... . At this point, that's our only motivation - to not let the Phillies get in."

Phils 14 16 1
Phish 1 5 1 (8th inning)

Nice job, Taylor.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Willie said it well, something along the lines of, "Thinking of playing the spoiler is loser talk, as far as I'm concerned. Winning should be it's own motivation."

[stevejrogers]

Edgy DC wrote: Willie said it well, something along the lines of, "Thinking of playing the spoiler is loser talk, as far as I'm concerned. Winning should be it's own motivation."

I guess helping knock the Phills out last year was just winning for the sake of winning against a divisional opponent

Speaking of which...

Do not get nervous when backup catcher is hitting against Billy this October...

[Gwreck]

Giants up 3-2 heading into the 9th.

Mike Stanton allows some hits to tie and a wild pitch to give the Dodgers the lead.

Entering play on Saturday:

St. Louis is up 1.5 games on Houston, 2.5 on Cincinatti.
Magic number to eliminate Cincy is 1.
Magic number to eliminate Houston (and clinch) is 2.

Dodgers now have 2 game lead in the Wild Card race over Philadelphia.
Magic number to eliminate Philadelphia (and clinch WC) is 2.

San Diego has .5 game lead on the Dodgers in the West.
San Diego clinches a playoff spot with a win or Philly loss.
Magic number to win the division is 3.

[Frayed Knot]

- Dodgers come from behind to beat the Giants
- Padres lose to Snakes
- Astros (Clemens) lose to Braves
- Cards beat Beermakers
- Phils romp all over Fishies
- Reds stay alive by beating the Pyroots


So in the WEST, Pades & Dodgers are tied with each other (SD holds the head-to-head tie-breaker should both teams be the Div/WC winners) and TWO GAMES clear of the Phils.
Philly tragic number = 1

In the CENTRAL, the Cards are at least guaranteed of playing their (if necc) Monday rain-out make-up game with the Giants to either clinch it or stay alive.
Reds' tragic number is 1, Houston's is 2
If the Reds win both their remaining games, Astros split theirs, and the Cards go 0-3 (incl makeup) ther'd be a 3-way tie.
Don't ask.


Today:
* Phil @ Florida -- Wolf v Olsen -- 1:25
* Milw @ StL -- Sheets v Suppan -- 1:25
* LA @ SF -- Maddux v Cain -- 4:10
* SD @ Ariz -- Wells v Cruz -- 4:10
All of the above games are listed as FOX regional telecasts but I'm not sure who will see what where. I'm sure we'll get the Fils-Phish game in NYC during the early slot but who knows beyond that.

* Houston @ Atlanta -- Sampson v Cormier -- 7:10 (No TBS)



In the AL:
- Both Detroit & Minnesota lose and remain tied with each other for the CENTRAL lead. Tiggers hold any tie-breaker so their magic number is 2.

- Yanx win and clinch home field throughout since they hold all tie-breakers in case of a deadlocked record with either Det or Minn.
So the Twins/Tiggers winner is playing for the right to face Oakland in the first round while the loser gets the Yanx.

[Gwreck]

St. Louis defeats Milwaukee, 3-2.

Cincinatti has been eliminated.
St. Louis' magic number to clinch is down to 1.

[stevejrogers]

Gwreck wrote: St. Louis defeats Milwaukee, 3-2. Cincinatti has been eliminated. St. Louis' magic number to clinch is down to 1.

Damn. Russo has been squaking all week about what to expect from the Giants if they end up going to St Louie to make up that game Monday.

So pretty much no margin for error now for Houston and they must hope the Cards lose Sunday.

[Gwreck]

Los Angeles and San Diego both win, clinching playoff spots. Philadelphia elminated.

San Diego has the tiebreaker, so San Diego can clinch the division with a win tomorrow.

Houston gets 3 unearned runs off the Braves in the top of the 9th and go head to stave off elimination for one more day. St. Louis can clinch with a win.

[Frayed Knot]

- I was hoping for losses from LA & SD just to make 'em burn real pitchers on Sunday in order to secure a berth. I wonder if either will still use top-notch guys - Lowe was sked to go for LA f'rinstance - just to avoid the Mets in the first round. I doubt it.

- The one I wanted to see gone was Houston but they hung on against Atlanta after moving Pettitte up by a day to replace the rookie who was supposed to go. They still need a win tomrrow and then some help on 2 consect days from 2 different teams (Milw & SF) just in order to force a schedule-screwing-up Tuesday play-in game.

- StL was almost in serious trouble here but got a 3-RBI pinch-hit 3B in the 8th from Scott Spezio (he's been hitting well lately everytime I look) while they were down 2-0.

- Minny lost but Detroit is losing so this one's still not decided.
I'm rooting for Detroit to eek out the division because I think Minny will be the tougher opponent for the Skanks. I've been down on the Tiggers for a while now (even if I've been forced to eat my words on occasion) but the Twins have had a much better 2nd half and I have a lot more confidence in them even though they've not beat the NYY in post-seasons past. Different team, different year. I even have more faith in Oakland than Detroit so that'll be my rooting interest if that's the matchup.