Benjamin Grimm

With one out and a runner on first, DeRosa screws up a double play ball. (I felt like I was watching the Mets!) Brewers threatening in the sixth. First and second, one out.

Even though the Cubs are now wearing those reptilian batting helmets, there's still something about the way the sunlight reflects off the helmets during a Wrigley Field day game that reminds me of games I watched on Channel 9 as a kid.

And with the bases full, Hardin gets Hardy to fly to Fukudome in right, just short of the warning track. Hardin is probably done. He's thrown over 100 pitches in five innings. Still 2-1 Cubs, middle of the fifth. EDIT: The count is 115 pitches for Harden. Bush, meanwhile, has thrown 47 though 4.

Big out for Harden as Braun pops to first. Fielder coming up for the intentional walk.

With Dave Bush on second and one out, Durham hits a one hopper to the right field wall, and somehow, it only ends up as a single, and Bush fails to score. Oops, check that. Durham is on second base. Brewers announcers not sure whether to credit right-fielder Fukudome or to blame Bush, but they're putting most of the blame on the runner. Braun batting with two in scoring position and one out. Cross your fingers for Rich Harden.

Yeah, I don't think defense has been the problem. (I mean fielding defense, of course. The bullpen is part of the defense, and that HAS been a problem.) The Mets need to score early and often to compensate for the bullpen. I want as many bats as possible.

Derek Lee just had a ball jump off his bat, but the wind apparently held it up and it was caught in center field. Oops... Aramis Ramirez follows that up with a line drive that the wind couldn't stop. 2-1 Cubs.

It's the middle of the 4th, game tied at 1, and Edmonds' homer is still the only base hit in the game.

If the Mets have to have a token player on this team, I nominate Luis Ayala.

Ben Sheets, with an "elbow twinge" is "doubtful" for his next start.

Jim Edmonds, not intimidated by the wind blowing in, smashes an opposite field homer and ties the game at 1 in the bottom of the second.

According to the "Piggly Wiggly" scouting report, Dave Bush is prone to giving up home runs. Luckily for him, this is one of those Wrigley afternoons where the wind is blowing in from the outfield. Cubs go down quietly in the first.

Hardy walked to load the bases, but Harden then struck out the next two to end the inning. Brewers only score once, but Harden has thrown 38 pitches. He'll need a few easy ones if he's to go deep into this game. 1-0 Brewers, Cubs coming to bat.

Brewers have already scored in the top of the first. They have runners on first and second and one out, J. J. Hardy batting.

Maybe they can activate Tim Teufel. Or Wally Backman. Or Edgardo Alfonzo.

Voting for Tuesday night's 1-0 loss in Washington will close on Friday afternoon. Schaefer POTG 9/16/08 - Nationals 1, Mets 0

attgig betrays that he's secretly a Phillies fan with his Freudian slip.

Knight 1.1 Ayala 0.6 Schoeneweis 0.5 Beltran 3 Delgado 2 Reyes 2 Murphy 0.8

Things get started early today, with a day game at Wrigley Field. (Starts at 2:20 Eastern Time.) The matchup is Bush and Harden, which sounds vaguely dirty.

No, Monk is right, I screwed up. The Mets would play the Cubs and the Phillies would play the Dodgers. Home-field would go to Chicago and Philadelphia.

VOTING FOR THIS GAME IS NOW CLOSED Totals for September 15, 2008 (8 votes) Washington Nationals 7, New York Mets 2 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceBobby Parnell4.300.541.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.Jos� Reyes4.250.531-4, 2 RBI.Ricardo Rincon3.850.480.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.Luis Castillo3.250.411-3, R, 2B, BB, SO.Brian Schneider3.250.411-3, R, 2B.Pedro Martinez2.500.31(L) 6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO.Daniel Murphy0.750.090-0, BB.Ryan Church0.600.081-3, BB, SO.Fernando Tatis0.500.061-4, 2B, SO.

W L Pct3 Avg W Avg L Champions Wild Card Playoffs 1D Change 7D Change Phillies 85 67 .534 90.8 71.2 63.65657 17.94059 81.59715 1.37930 65.07085 Mets 84 67 .543 89.9 72.1 36.07547 26.57932 62.65479 -1.59793 -29.39416 Brewers 84 68 .535 89.6 72.4 .18905 53.62267 53.81172 4.68152 -26.93066 Astros 80 71 .472 85.8 76.2 .00000 1.32076 1.32076 -3.99923 -4.64298 This doesn't seem fair: On a day when the Mets, Phillies, and Brewers all win, only the Mets see their playoff odds drop. This seems to be because the Phillies shaved more points off the Mets first place odds than the Mets gained from the Brewers. But Milwaukee increased their Wild Card odds because the Card is becoming less likely to end up in Philadelphia. Astros continue to decline. Another day or two like this and I'll remove them from these updates. Magic Tragic Number update: Mets magic number for the Wild Card is 11. Tragic number for the NL East title is also 11. NHOP: Mets/Phillies: 57.1% (12 necessary happy outcomes in 21 games). Mets/Brewers: 52.4% (11 of 21) If the season were to end with the standings as they are, the Mets would play the Dodgers in the NLDS while the Phillies would take on the Cubs. Home field advantages would go to Los Angeles and Chicago. Teams with playoff odds between 0 and 1 are Toronto (.02901), Yankees (.02069), Florida (.59708), St. Louis (.03878) and Colorado, at .00018 appears poised to be the next team eliminated.

Yeah, the best thing A. Reyes has going for him is his health compared to that of Easley and Castillo. If Castillo is healthy tonight, I'd put him in the lineup. And if he's not, we have to go with Argenis. What happens with second base will be one of the interesting storylines this winter.

Daily News today is reporting that Tatis' injury may not be as severe as was first thought, and he might even be available to play in time for the NLCS, should the Mets qualify.

If Jose steals 50 per year for the next 15 years, he'll still be several hundred steals short of Rickey.