I've been listening to and reading some criticism of Willie Randolph, as you might expect after such an epic collapse. I find it interesting, however, that one is how even tempered he is. When he stands at the top of the dugout, you don't see him get emotional, good or bad. Now, this surprises me as a criticism, because I've spent most of my life listening to that kind of behavior get positive reviews. (Look at him, you can't tell if the team is winning or losing!) It strikes me that Willie is very much Joe Torre in this regard. So Mets fans, do you have any legitimate criticisms of Willie? When I look at the aggregate Mets lineup, it looks pretty solid. High OBA players at the top, sluggers in the middle, poor hitters at the bottom. The pitchers did well in close and late situations, saying to me that Randolph got the relief matchups right most of the time. I don't watch enough games to comment on in game strategy. The Mets were second in sacrifice hits, but the majority of those came out of the pitcher's spot. The Mets stole with an 81% success rate, so he called for steals with the right runners at the right time. What exactly did Randolph do wrong other than show a lack of emotion?

Update: Here's Matt Cerrone's take:

...in the end, i believe this current group of players got a bit sloth like through much of the summer, and those bad actions became habit and spilled over in to crunch time...i hesitantly blame Willie Randolph, because while i respect his confidence and believe it is ultimately a good thing, i suspect it may also have helped to create a sense of entitlement that morphed in to a sense of apathy, which led to the team's uninspired play...ultimately, however, i mostly fault the players, who are professionals, and yet who actually went on record as acknowledging their malaise, like Carlos Delgado, who in early September told reporters, "We've got so much talent, I think sometimes we get bored."

Here's the story on the playoff game tomorrow:

This battle needs an extra game, No. 163. The victory -- the Rockies' 13th in 14 games -- in front of 46,375, coupled with the Padres' 11-6 loss to the Brewers, forged a tie for the National League Wild Card. The Padres and Rockies will meet at Coors Field on Monday at 5:37 p.m. MT.

The winner will face the NL East champion Phillies on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park in the Division Series.

Soccer Dad reprints an essay by a fan who is giving up his Orioles season tickets.

Hawpe doubles in Atkins in the bottom of the sixth to put the Rockies on top 1-0. Meanwhile, Gross hits a bases loaded triple in the bottom of the sixth to put the Brewers up 9-4 over San Diego. If these scored hold up, the Rockies will be tied with the Padres for the Wild Card and play a game in Colorado tomorrow.

Update: Carlos Quentin picks up an RBI single in the seventh to tie the game. I'm surprised they left Jimenez in after two consecutive walks and over 100 pitches.

Update: Julio did come into pitch. The play by play was wrong. That makes more sense. So Ubaldo pitches a great game and won't get a decision as the teams go to the bottom of the seventh tied at one.

Update: Kouzmanoff and Gonzalez homer in the 9th, but the Padres fall 11-6. The Rockies are threatening to take the lead in the bottom of the 8th.

Update: Atkins scored the first run and drives in the second. He singles with the bases loaded to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead! We could end up with two terrific comebacks in the NL this year.

Update: Rockies go up 4-1, but the DBacks get the first two men on base in the top of the ninth.

Update: Callaspo drives in the second run of the inning to make the score 4-3 Colorado with two out.

Update: That's it! The Rockies win and tie the Padres for the wild card. They'll play tomorrow in Colorado.

The Phillies defeat the Nationals 6-1 to complete an improbable comeback. They play eight games better than the Mets down the stretch, nosing them out for the NL East championship by one game. Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard collected the big hits, Rollins racing for his twentieth triple to equal Granderson's 20 doubles, 20 triples and 20 home run season. He scored twice. Howard hit his 47th home run of the year. It's also his 11th of the month, his best month for home runs.

Congratulations to the Phillies on winning the NL East, even if it means no four-way tie!

The Diamondbacks tapped Yusmeiro Petit for the start against the Rockies and he and Jimenez are locked in a shutout in the sixth. Ubaldo just gave up his first hit of the game, and he's struck out nine. Petit's given up four hits and struck out four. Helton has the only extra-base, his 42nd double. With San Diego losing 6-4, Colorado needs to win this game to force a wild card playoff.

Jamie Moyer comes through for his home town team, striking out six in 5 1/3 innings of work. He allows just one unearned as the Phillies lead 6-1 in the eighth. They are three outs away from a probable NL East title as the Mets are losing 8-1 going to the bottom of the ninth.

Update: The Mets lose, the Phillies just need to hold on to their 6-1 lead as they go to the top of the ninth.

Glavine walks the first batter, then gets a force out. The Marlins get his measure after that as four straight hits plate four runs. Ross' double clears the bases on a sloppy play in which Cabrera ran through a stop sign and scored, then Glavine threw the ball away as Ross tried to go to third, and he scores as well. He just walked Treanor, and another hit loads the bases.

Update: Glavine hits Willis, and it's 5-0.

Update: Sosa is on in relief.

Update: Sosa get Ramirez, but Uggla doubles in two more runs. It's 7-0 in the first and the Mets are really buried. The four way tie is on life support.

Jim Salisbury notes the Phillies were in a similar situation in 1950:

This isn't the first time a Phillies season has come down to the last day. It did so in the torturous 1964 season and again in 2005. Both times the Phillies won the final game, but missed the playoffs.

In 1950, the year of the Whiz Kids, the Phils won the National League pennant on the final day, beating the Brooklyn Dodgers on Dick Sisler's three-run homer in the 10th.

Hall of Famer Robin Roberts pitched all 10 innings that day.

The Phillies led the Dodgers by one game that day in 1950, so a loss would have forced a playoff. Today, a win means they'll at least play Monday.

Mark T.R. Donohue notices his bad Karma for the Rockies:

But unlike most other metro-Denverites, I have spent the entire season shoveling dirt on the Rockies. I'm a pessimist by nature, but this year has made me look a bit absurd. This team will not die, and I feel I only feed its strange resilience with my ongoing if's, or's, and but's. I got really fired up to watch the Rockies game as a fan on Friday night, dressed up, invited friends over, made an event of it. As suited the occasion. But the game itself was such a downer -- it was clear from the first that Brandon Webb had his Brandon Webb thing working and there wasn't much the Rockies could do but bend their knees when they swung and run as fast as they could to first -- that I panicked. I was having flashbacks to 2003 and 1998 with my former long-term baseball commitment, the Cubs. I had never expected in this year of all years to have serious emotional involvement in the Rockies winning or losing any games. I thought at best they'd win 75 games again.

So I've been relentlessly wrong, which is frustrating, and every time I try to take my medicine and admit it, the Rockies tend to swoon. Now I've become superstitious enough of a fan that I believe I may have been having a malign influence to them. I looked true fan commitment in the eye, and I blinked. I gave away my (single) ticket to the game Saturday night. I didn't really watch much of it on TV, preferring for the first time in my life college football for my complete lack of rooting interest. (Although, hey, look at those Cal Bears!) I couldn't bear the thought of a having to see the best season in Rockies history (and way better than any of the sentient seasons I spent as a Cubs fan, no fooling) end with a final on an out-of-town scoreboard. So with my eyes mostly shielded by my hands, I peeked in a couple times. It looked, to be honest, like the opposite of Friday's game. The Edgar Gonzalez thing, if any exists, was not in evidence as the Rockies made the last eight innings a well-deserved Coors victory lap with a four-run first.

He's not watching the game today.

The start of the four big games are nicely staggered today to draw out the drama. It starts with a battle of lefties in New York as Tom Glavine hosts Dontrelle Willis and the Marlins at 1 PM EDT. With 35 post-season starts under his belt, I don't think Tom will be feeling any pressure today. Glavine has mixed results against Florida this season. He's pitched 11 1/3 innings, allowing one walk and one home run while striking out eight. But the Marlins did a good job when they put the ball in play, knocking out eighteen hits. Willis pitched poorly this season, but he's ending strong, coming off two fine outings versus contenders New York and Chicago. Righties walloped Willis all season, hitting .321 against him overall, but in those last two starts they're just 7 for 44, a .159 BA.

Next at 1:30 PM EDT, the Phillies continue their series with the Nationals. Once again, a veteran lefty takes the hill for the contender as Jamie Moyer faces Jason Bergmann. Jason's not a bad pitcher, he just tends to allow too many home runs. Even in his good September performance, he's allowed six home runs in 31 1/3 innings. In his two starts against the Nationals, Moyer walked seven in fourteen innings. It seemed to be effective wildness, however, as he allowed just ten hits and no home runs.

At 2 PM EDT, the Padres and the Brewers get underway with Brett Tomko facing Jeff Suppan. This is the game that has me excited for a four-way tie. The Padres need to lose for that to happen, and Tomko isn't a very good pitcher. He's pitched better for the Padres than for the Dodgers, however, only walking four in 23 innings of work. Suppan is at home, where his ERA is about a run and a half better than on the road, even though his K, BB, HR and hits allowed are similar. It turns out opponents hits .252 with men in scoring position at Miller Park, .360 when Jeff is on the road.

Then at 3 PM EDT, Doug Davis and Ubaldo Jimenez see if the Rockies can complete their comeback. The Rockies and Davis produced unusual stats this season. Davis allowed 12 walks and 23 hits in 17 innings against the Rockies, but only six earned runs, nine total. That's a lot of men left on base. But despite the 3.18 ERA, Davis only managed a 1-2 record against Colorado. After a very good August, Ubaldo's strikeouts tumbled and his walks and home runs rose. I suspect the managers will go to their bullpens early in this game.

Again, for the four-way tie to occur, the Mets, Phillies and Rockies must win and San Diego must lose. A San Diego win makes the Padres the wild card and eliminates the Rockies. If the Mets and the Phillies suffer the same fate today (win or lose), they play for the NL east in Philadelphia tomorrow. If the Padres lose and the Rockies win, and the NL East is either decided or both the Mets and Phillies lose, the Padres and Rockies play for the Wild Card in Colorado tomorrow. And there is the possibility of a three-way tie among the Mets, Phillies and Padres if the Rockies lose and everything else breaks right.

Enjoy and stay tuned!

Cubs fans are buying up Diamondbacks LDS tickets:

Any other time he would be a D-Backs fan, Hayashi said, but he's a Cubs fan first, and he's hoping to see his team play the D-Backs in the National League Divisional Series.

...

Like Hayashi, a fair number of the bleary-eyed early arrivals in line were Cubs fans. Mary Crone, a Scottsdale resident who was fifth in line, drove to the ballpark shortly after the Cubs and D-Backs had won their games Friday evening and spent the night in her car.

After dropping $750 on 14 tickets, she was thrilled. "There's no fan base like there is for the Cubs," said Crone, who grew up in the Windy City.

Eric Kozimor, 23, of Scottsdale, another Cubs fan, bought enough tickets to take his grandfather, his father and his 2-year-old son.

"Just put the sign up now: 'Wrigley Field West,' " Kozimor crowed. "Cub Nation is coming."

If the NL Wild Card comes from the west, the Diamondbacks host the Cubs in the first round. If not, these fans might get to see a Cubs-Diamondbacks LCS.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Due to technical difficulties, the Day by Day Database update will take place later today.

Sean Kirst remembers a grim anniversary for New York baseball fans.

The Rockies trounce the Diamondbacks 11-1, gaining a game on the Phillies and the Padres. The four-way tie scenario is still in place as the three games that needed specific outcomes went the right way. Here's what needs to happen tomorrow:

• Mets win.
• Phillies win.
• San Diego loses.
• Colorado wins.

The first two happening means a playoff for the NL East title on Monday. The third happening as well means the loser on Monday needs to play at least one more game Tuesday. All four and the NLDS gets delayed. It should be an exciting Sunday!

Update: I'm seeing on the Baseball Prospectus chatter the odds of a four-way tie are 12.6%. Much better than I thought.

Update: I see that the Padres are going to pitch Tomko tomorrow instead of Peavy. They'd rather have Jake go on full rest for a playoff, or be ready to start game 1 if it doesn't happen. Tomko instead of Peavy makes me a little more confident of a Padres loss tomorrow.

Also, if the Mets, Phillies and Padres lose tomorrow and the Rockies win, there will be two playoff games on Monday, one for the NL East and one for the Wild Card.

The Red Sox decided to take the extra day off. I'm a bit surprised, but not entirely. The team was hurting down the stretch, and I suspect this will help. It does however, mean they'll face Lackey and Escobar twice if it goes five and totally miss Santana.

It also might help the Yankees as they'll get to face the 3-4 starters for Cleveland instead of facing Sabathia and Carmona twice.

The Cleveland Indians lose to the Royals, 4-3, giving the Red Sox home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Boston has one hour to decide if they want the extra-day off in the playoffs (I believe the Indians game ended at 10:19 PM EDT).

The Rockies are playing a very good game on both sides of the ball tonight. They lead the Diamondbacks 7-1 as they've scored two runs in the fifth inning so far. Mark Redman has only allowed an unearned run through five innings, striking out six and walking one. That's a K/BB you don't usually see from Mark. If the Rockies can hang on, they'll have a shot to tie for the wild card tomorrow.

Update: Troy Tulowitzki hits a grand slam to make it a six run fifth, and the Rockies lead 11-1.

The Red Sox defeat the Twins 6-4 on a three-run home run by J.D. Drew in the seventh. The win reduces the Red Sox magic number to one for clinching the best record in the league and home field through the playoffs. Cleveland is currently losing 3-2 in the seventh, so it might happen tonight.

Drew hasn't been popular with the Boston fans, as his .500 slugging percentage didn't show up. But his long ball tonight was his fourth of the month and he's slugging well over .500 in September. I think Red Sox fans will forgive his season if he keeps that hot hitting through the playoffs.

Baltimore jumped out to a 6-1 lead over the Yankees after three innings, scoring two runs in each of the first three. But the Yankees got to the Baltimore pitchers in the fourth, plating ten runs. It's the seventh time this month the Orioles allowed ten or more runs in a game.

The first three Rockies reach base in the bottom of the first, the third on Matt Holliday's fiftieth double of the season. That plates the first two runners to put Colorado up 2-0 on Arizona. The Rockies need a win to stay alive in the wild card race.

Update: The Rockies get four runs in the first and lead Arizona 4-0 in the top of the second.

Kelvim Escobar finishes the best season of his career with a win over the Oakland Athletics. He gives up just one run over six innings to finish with a 3.40 ERA. It's a good warmup for starting game two in Boston next week.

One thing about finishing with the third seed is that LAnaheim gets to throw Ervin Santana at home, where he's very effective.

The Diamondbacks/Rockies is not on extra-innings tonight.

Vinny Rottino singles in Ryan Braun in the bottom of the eleventh, and the Brewers spoil the Padres chance at clinching a playoff berth. Ryan doubled earlier in the inning. That means the four way tie is still alive, and if the Rockies can win, it lives for another day. Also, the Diamondbacks clinch the NL West, because they win the tie breaker with San Diego.

Ryan Howard homered in the eighth to make the score 4-2 Nationals, and that's where we are as the Phillies start the bottom of the ninth against Cordero.

Update: Werth strikes out. One down.

Update: Dobbs flies out to center. Two down It's up to Ruiz.

Update: Ruiz pops out to second base, and the Mets and Phillies are tied. Both need to win tomorrow, and we may see a playoff game on Monday.

The Padres keep the Brewers off the board in the eighth inning. San Diego needs just three outs to earn a post-season slot.

Update: The bottom of the ninth is starting with the score still 3-2 in favor of San Diego.

Update: Hoffman comes in and strikes out Fielder, one down.

Update: Corey Hart doubles to put the tying run at second with one out. Nix pinch hits.

Update: Nix strikes out. It's up to pinch hitter Tony Gwynn.

Update: The younger Gwynn knocks in the tying run and ends up at third base with a triple. Tony Sr. must be a little torn at this point, as he spends a lot of time in booth for the Padres.

Gwynn keeps the four-way tie alive for the moment.

Update: Rivera grounds out, and the teams go to the tenth.

The Nationals pick up two runs in the top of the seventh, helped by two errors to take a 4-0 lead. Rowand leads off the bottom of the inning with a home run to cut the lead to 4-1. Aaron set career highs this season in runs, doubles, home runs and RBI.

Adrian Gonzalez follows up a Rickie Weeks home run with one of his own, the the Padres and Brewers remain tied, now at two. Milwaukee bats in the bottom of the sixth.

Update: Gonzalez picks up his third RBI of the afternoon with a single in the seventh. He's driven in all the Padres runs as they lead 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh.

Rich Hill retired fifteen of the first sixteen batters without allowing a hit. He's walked one during the game as the Cubs lead Cincinnati 4-0. Earlier today, Maine went 7 2/3 innings before allowing a hit.

Update: HIll gives up a two out double in the sixth. He comes out after six with a short shutout.

The Nationals and Phillies combine to leave five runners on base in the second inning. Washington still leads 1-0.

Update: Eaton does not last long. He gives up five hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings, bringing in Geary. Geary induces a double play to keep the score 1-0 Nationals.

Update: Geary puts men on first and third with one out in the fourth, and the Phillies go to Mesa to hold the score. He gives up a sacrifice fly, and the Nationals take a 2-0 lead going to the bottom of the fourth.

The Mets defeat the Marlins 13-0 to stay alive in the NL East. They'll play a meaningful game tomorrow. Six players picked up multiple hits, with Milledge's two homers being the highlight of the day offensively. Maine set a career high striking out 14 in 7 2/3 innings, leaving after giving up the first Marlins hit of the day.

The Mets also preserve a chance at a four way tie. San Diego needs to lose to make that happen.

The San Diego Padres score a run on a Brian Giles single and a Gonzalez double in the top of the first. They lead 1-0 in the second.

The Washington Nationals break on top as Belliard singles and Zimmerman drives him in with a double. That gives Zimmerman ten doubles in September, his best month of the season. The Philles come to bat down 1-0.

Backup catcher Paul Hoover beats out a dribbler down the third base line as Maine goes 7 2/3 innings before allowing a hit. Wright held onto the ball. He should have thrown it away. A sympathetic Official Scorer might have charged an error.

John Maine retires the side in order in the sixth, striking out two more. That gives him no hits allowed and twelve strikeouts.

There's strange doings in the Mets game. Milledge hit his second home run of the game, and then there were some close pitches thrown to Maine. Reyes doubled, then went to third on a wild pitch. I guess that pitch came close to Castillo, who took a couple of steps to the mound. That caused the benches to empty, but there was no actual violence. Castillo walked, then during a pitching change radio went to commercial. When they came back, Miguel Olivo rushed Jose Reyes, who was standing at third, and got Sandy Alomar, Sr. instead. That got both teams back on the field in a more serious brawl. Once things were settled, Olivo was tossed and Wright singled in Reyes. It's 10-0 Mets in bottom of the fifth.

John Maine, like Cole Hamels last night, is showing he's ready for the playoffs. Through five innings he hasn't allowed a hit and he's struck out 10 of the 15 batters he's faced. He did walk one, but Uggla was eliminated by a double play. Maine also struck out seven in a row at one point. The Mets still lead 8-0.

Alou and Delgado come through with RBI singles in the first and the Mets take an early 2-0 lead. Even though Carlos now has 86 RBI, the drop in his production hurt the Mets most of the season. His .780 OPS is just unacceptable for a first baseman.

Update: The Mets are pouring it on this afternoon, scoring three in the second and three more in the third with just one out. The Marlins are already on their third pitcher.

I'm surprised Fox hasn't moved the Mets game to 3:55 from 1:10. It would create a bit more excitement if the two games were head-to-head and the teams could watch the scoreboards. But the Mets play first, as Seddon faces Maine. Maine's been terrible since the start of August, although he's still striking out batters at a high rate. In that time, opponents are hitting .306 against him, but .412 when not striking out.

If the Mets lose, the Phillies can clinch the East with a win over the Nationals. Adam Eaton gets the ball against Matt Chico. The only good thing you can say about Adam's season is he's 10-9. Like Eaton, Chico's given up a lot of walks and home runs this season, but he's finishing strong in September, walking just six in 28 2/3 innings.

A win by San Diego puts them in the playoffs. Chris Young will try to do what Cole Hamels did last night and shine in his last start before the playoffs. He's 0-5 in nine starts since returning from his injury.

Finally, the Diamondbacks can clinch the division with a win tonight, as they hold the tie breaker with San Diego. If the Padres lose this afternoon, the NL West title is settled, but the wild card remains in play for the Nationals. It's not a great pitching matchup as Edgar Gonzalez faces Mark Redman. Expect the offense to dominate this game.

Enjoy!

The Astros removed the iterim title from Cecil Cooper yesterday, extending his contract through 2009.

When Cooper was made interim manager on Aug. 27, McLane suggested that the final month of the Astros' lost season amounted to an audition for Cooper, a five-time All-Star during his 17-year playing career.

Cooper said the team needed to play "with more excitement, more fire." He's tinkered with lineups and encouraged more steal attempts since taking over and the Astros have gone 13-15.

"The first couple of weeks on the job, I'd look around the dugout and all eyes would be on me," he said. "I know I have to stand up and be the right kind of leader, the right kind of guy. And I expect them to follow me. So far, they have."

The whole stolen base issue is nonsense. They attempted .60 steals per game under Garner, .62 under Cooper. They stole at a poor 66% clip under Garner, a better 72% rate under Cooper, although that's not far above break even. I'd really like to see Cooper address the real short comings of the team, poor hitting against right-handed pitchers and a very poor pitching staff. What kind of player does he want Ed Wade to acquire to fix these problems?

Be sure to check out my posts at AT&T Blue Room. Click on sports, then buzz. My latest looks at the comeback of Carlos Pena.

In 2003, baseball came pretty close to a Cubs-Red Sox World Series. Bad managerial decisions doomed both those teams as Dusty Baker didn't have anyone warming up things went south for Prior, and Grady Little decided Pedro could get another batter. At that time, the team hadn't won a World Series since 1908 and 1918 respectively.

Now we get a chance for the teams with the longest streaks of seasons without a championship to face off. The Cubs still haven't won since 1908, while the Indians last claimed a title in 1948. The Cubs actually had plenty of chances to pick up another series title as they won the National League pennant seven times between 1910 and 1945, a good rate for an eight team league. From 1929 to 1938, they were a dominant NL team, never finishing lower than third, and going to the big dance four times. In two of the series, the hitting collapsed, and the pitching faltered in the other two. And with the Cubs not returning to the Series since 1945, the base of fans remembering their pennants is dwindling rapidly.

The Indians do have a recent history of World Series visits, losing in both 1995 and 1997. I know of no curses on the Tribe, just bad management that took one of the few teams that challenged the Yankees in the 1950s to over thirty years of also ran status. That's changed over the last fifteen years, and it would be good to see it rewarded with a World Championship.

Both these teams have an urgency to win due to their historic droughts. I'd love to see them face off in the finale this season.

With the Phillies in first, Todd Zolecki points out this fact:

It has been said before, but it is worth repeating for fans and a franchise that has not lived October baseball since 1993: No team in baseball history has blown a seven-game lead with 17 games to play.

The Mets could be the first.

The Phillies are 12-3 since they trailed the Mets by seven on Sept. 12.

The Mets are 4-11.

As the headline screamed in yesterday's New York Post: "Paging Dr. Heimlich."

Meanwhile, a great headline at the NY Post, METS HAVE VIEW FROM THE FLOP.

In the clubhouse afterward, David Wright confirmed his humiliation. The choked-up third baseman's words were enough.

"Personally I'm embarrassed," Wright said after a fifth straight defeat slid the Mets into second place. "I think it's embarrassing. It's pretty pathetic that we have this division within our grasp with seven home games and we can't find a way to win one of them."

The cover is pretty good too, "You Gotta Bereave!"

Lisa Olson at the New appreciates the Mets creativity:

It's not easy to blow a season in such astonishing fashion. But that's exactly what the Mets have done, losing to the Marlins, 7-4, last night and falling a game behind Philadelphia in the National League East race with two games to play. It's rare to hit three batters in one inning, but that's what Oliver Perez did in a start he needed to control, in a game the Mets had to win.

Duck! Here comes another Perez slider, an arrow zipping around the target.

Duck! There go the Mets, the team with the highest payroll and the most talent in the National League, collapsing like a house made of toothpicks.

The New York Times profiles the unofficial Mets poet, Frank Messina. From Thursday's game:

Do you know what it's like

To be chased by the Ghost of Failure

While staring through Victory's door?

Of course you do, you're a Mets fan.

However, the Mets failures rarely include late season chokes. They're more about seven year stretches of second division teams and a few bad playoff losses. But if this collapse plays out, Frank will need to write an epic.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The video blog Bleacher Bloggers gives Baseball Musings a mention this week in regards to the Barry Bonds ball.

Friday turned out badly for a massive tie. The four-way for the wild card and NL east is still possible, but much less likely. Here's how we get there:

Team	Record
Rockies	2-0
Mets	2-0
Phillies	1-1
Padres	0-2

A win by the Padres and there's no massive tie. The best we could do at that point is have the Mets and Phillies tie for the east and hold a one-game playoff on Monday, which would still be very exciting. But if the Padres win, they're at least the wild card.

Creed from The Office muses on baseball at Creed Thoughts.

Trevor Hoffman strikes out Rickie Weeks in the ninth, and the Padres defeat the Brewers 6-3. That ends Milwaukee's season as the Chicago Cubs win the NL Central title, the second National League team to claim a playoff spot. Congratulations to the Cubs on a great comeback season. The off-season moves paid off as Soriano, Lilly and Marquis all turned out to be major contributors to the Cubs success, and Lou Piniella kept the team moving toward victory. Congratulations to the Cubs on going from worst to first!

Correction: I forgot that with the Mets losing, the Diamondbacks clinched a playoff spot. They'll either win the west or the wild card, because there can't be a four-way tie involving the Mets, Phillies Diamondbacks and Padres. The DBacks were the first team to clinch. Originally, I thought it was the Cubs. The post was changed to reflect reality.

After a double and a passed ball in the bottom of the tenth, the Yankees intentionally load the bases. Ramirez strikes out Millar, but Mora drops a bunt to third and the winning run scores as the Orioles take the Yankees 10-9.

That loss settles a number of things in the AL East. The Yankees fail to finish at the top of the division for the first time since 1997. Since the Red Sox are now division champs, the Angels can't finish with the best record in the league, since Boston holds the tie breaker. Cleveland is two outs away from winning, and if they hold on, they'll be one of the top two teams in the league. So with two outs in KC, the ALDS will be set with Boston hosting LAnaheim and Cleveland hosting New York.

Update: Cleveland wins 5-3, Sabathia wins his 19th game and the Indians get to play the Yankees in the ALDS. Now we just need to see if the Indians or the Red Sox win the choice of the extra day off.

The Rockies put two men on in the ninth, but Valverde strikes out the other three batters to prevent them from advancing, and the Diamondbacks win 4-2, clinching at least a tie for the wild card. The Diamondbacks actually celebrated that on the field! They're a young team, and given their run difference, a pretty major accomplishment. The Rockies can't win the west as they drop to three games back, but they still have a shot at the wild card. San Diego is winning 6-3, however, going to the bottom of the ninth.

Correction: I forgot that with the Mets losing, the Diamondbacks clinched a playoff spot. They'll either win the west or the wild card, because there can't be a four-way tie involving the Mets, Phillies Diamondbacks and Padres. The DBacks were the first team to clinch. That's why they were celebrating.

The Marlins defeat the Mets 7-4 as the Florida pen pitches four scoreless innings in relief of Kim, who gets the win for five less than stellar innings. Ramirez and Uggla were the offensive stars at the top of the order, combining for four hits, a walk and five runs scored.

The loss drops the Mets one game behind the Phillies in the NL East race. It also make Rollins early season boast that the Phillies were the team to beat two wins closer to reality.

Khalil Greene came into the game in Milwaukee with a .510 slugging percentage on the road. He lived up to that as he doubled earlier and then homered in eighth to extend the Padres lead to 6-3. His home runs are pretty even home and road, but he's collected nearly twice the doubles. The Brewers are staring elimination in the face.

Mariano Rivera gives up three runs in the bottom of the ninth to allow the Orioles to tie the Yankees at nine. Mussina's start was a set back as he allowed six runs in five innings, but the middle relievers held the Orioles scoreless for three innings. A two-out, bases loaded triple by Payton was the big hit in the inning, although a hit by pitch helped load the bases in the first place. The game is in the tenth as the Yankees try to keep pace with the Red Sox.

Cole Hamels pitches eight brilliant innings as the Phillies defeat the Nationals 6-0. Hamels finishes the season 15-5 by striking out thirteen batters and walking just one. The Nationals managed six hits, but only one was for extra bases. Cole appears to be back to normal after his injury, just in time if the Phillies make the playoffs. They took a step in that direction tonight.

The Cubs finish off the Reds 6-0, clinching a tie for the NL Central. As the game finishes, they notice the Padres have taken a 4-3 lead on the Brewers. Back-to-back doubles by Gonzalez and Greene plate the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth.

Bruce Froemming makes a horrible call at first. Koumanoff throws out Hardy from foul territory behind third, but the first base ump calls him safe. It was so obvious you don't even need to look at multiple angles. Luckily, Maddux gets a double play ball to end the inning. Bruce can't retire soon enough.

Carlos Zambrano finishes his regular season strong. He pitches seven scoreless innings tonight, following up six shutout innings against the Pirates. He only has one bad start in his final five, posting a 1.67 ERA over that period. The Cubs lead 6-0 in the top of the ninth.

Josh Bard singles with the bases loaded, driving in the first run for the Padres in the top of the fourth. Blum and Clark also drive in runs as the Padres take a 3-2 lead. With the Cubs leading 4-0 in the eighth, the Brewers are facing the tragedy of elimination.

Alas, poor Yost, I knew him Horatio.

Update: Not yet dead. Corey Hart, the tragic poet of MTV homers to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth.

Correction: The lead was 3-2, not 3-0.

Alex Rodriguez hit his 54th home run tonight, driving in three and scoring twice. That gives him a new career high in runs scored (142) to go with his RBI high. He needs four more runs or RBI to reach a combined total of 300 for the season.

It's an interesting level to reach because it tells us something about the player and the team. To both score and drive in lots of runs, a player must get on base often and hit for power. You have to provide the batters behind you with opportunities for RBI, plus provide the power to drive in the runners on base when you come to the plate. But for both runs and RBI to be this high, you need a great team around you. The table setters need to be great at getting on base. The batters behind need to supply plenty of power themselves. So when you see a batter with these run and RBI numbers, you know you're seeing a great player in the middle of a great offense.

Update: Alex gets his third hit and fourth RBI of the night, giving him 155 on the season and a combined RBI + Runs of 297.

David Ortiz ended his streak of nine consecutive hits in the sixth inning tonight when he grounded out. Earlier in the game, he picked up his fifty second double of the season. With a .445 OBA and a .617 slugging percentage, imagine what Ortiz would have done with a healthy leg!

Connor Jackson homers off Jeff Francis, the fourth home run of his career off Jeff. That matches Jackson's season total of 15 from 2006 in 75 fewer at bats. The DBacks lead 3-0.

There seem to be a number of hit by pitches doing damage tonight. In Philadelphia, Redding hits Ruiz with a man on first, setting up a sacrifice by Hamels and a two-run single by Rollins. The Phillies take a 3-0 lead in the fifth, and Hamels is pitching lights out. He's struck out eight through 5 1/3 innings without a walk.

Maddux didn't walk the first batter tonight, but he did hit Rickie Weeks. Rickie steals second and scores. Later in the inning, Hardy steals second and scores on an two-out single by Hart. Maddux doesn't care about steals, because he usually gets the batters out. Tonight he didn't.

Augie Ojeda gets the sacrifice fly in the top of the second to put the Diamondbacks on top 1-0. Arizona loaded the bases with one out. Torrealba made a nice play on a sac attempt to throw a runner out at third, but Drew hit a double play that hit off the glove of Francis and went for an infield hit. That's all they got of the situation, however.

The home run bats came out in Chicago tonight as long balls by Soriano and Lee help the Cubs to a 4-0 lead over the Reds in fifth inning. Arroyo's allowed 15 homers in his last 69 1/3 innings from the start of August. Fifteenof the sixteen Cincinnati batters put the ball in play against Zambrano tonight, but they've only managed four singles. Still, this is a team know for their batters striking out, and they only have one on the evening.

The Marlins are ahead to the Mets 4-1, but it's Oliver Perez's hits that are driving in runs. He hits three batters in the top of the third, two of them with the bases loaded.

Update: Beltran homers in the bottom of the third to cut the Marlins lead to 4-3. He has 26 RBI in 26 September games.

The Red Sox won't be using Clay Buchholz in the post season:

Epstein stressed that Buchholz is not injured. Instead, he likened the situation to Jonathan Papelbion last September, saying that had Buchholz continued to pitch in a fatigued state, like Papelbon did, he'd risk doing damage to the shoulder.

The decision was not based simply on an innings ceiling, Epstein said. He said that there are objective measurements taken by assistant trainer Mike Reinhold, who monitors Papelbon's shoulder, that showed the weakness and fatigue. Epstein noted that Reinhold formerly was on the staff of noted orthopedist James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. and is an expert on shoulder and elbow issues. "He could no longer pitch,'' Epstein said, "without going into a real danger zone.''

The Red Sox are deep in pitching without Buchholz. It's not the end of the world, but it does make you wonder about how durable he'll be during his career.

As we go into the final weekend, unless you really care about the race for the best record in the AL, there are five series that matter. The Phillies host the Nationals with Cole Hamels facing Tim Redding. The two have identical ERA, although Tim's comes from throwing 2/3 of his innings at RFK, while Hamels is actually good. Cole's posted a 2.63 ERA against Washington this year, although he only has a 1-1 record to show for it in four starts. For the massive tie scenario, a Phillies win is the best outcome.

The Mets should be the favorites tonight as the Marlins send Byung-Hyun Kim against Oliver Perez. Kim strikes out a lot of batters, but he just gives up too many walks and home runs. Perez has pitched very well against the Marlins this year, striking out 22 in 18 2/3 innings. For the massive tie scenario, look for a Mets win.

The Cubs send their ace, Carlos Zambrano to the mound against Bronson Arroyo as Chicago tries to clinch a tie tonight. But the Reds have knocked Carlos around this year, to the tune of a 6.59 ERA over five starts. He's walked 17 and struck out just eleven in 28 2/3 innings. Of course, Cincinnati is playing without Griffey and Dunn, so I don't know how valid those numbers are for this game. Arroyo pitched well against the Cubs in four starts but hasn't won. A Cubs loss would be best for getting a tie in the Central.

The Padres send Greg Maddux to the mound against Chris Capuano. Maddux's ERA goes up a run away from PETCO, and he also looks like he's wearing down as he's posted a 6.29 ERA in September. Capuano's pitched much better at home, where is K/BB is excellent. A Padres loss is best for the massive tie and an NL Central tie.

Finally, in an early start (8:05 EDT), the Diamondbacks visit the Rockies. The two teams send out their best as Brandon Webb faces Jeff Francis. Webb pitched poorly against the Rockies this season, and the venue didn't matter. He walked batters and gave up home runs. Lefties on the Rockies hit him hard, and he got hammered with men in scoring position. Francis only saw the Rockies twice, but posted a 1.38 ERA. The Rockies want that to hold up tonight, and so does the massive tie scenario.

Enjoy!

Breaking Balls wonders who Bud Black should pitch on Sunday. If they have to win, he throws Peavy. And what the hell, if he has to pitch somebody the next day, any other pitcher on short rest is better than Tomko. I throw Cassel out there and hope the bullpen is rested.

Via Deadspin, the Denver Post is looking for suggestions for a Rockies theme song. Instead of suggesting some existing tune, they should rewrite a classic. Here's what I'd use as the chorus (sung to the tune of I Love Rock and Roll):

I love the Rockies roll. Put another win in the standings baby. I love the Rockies roll. Go ahead and sweep the Snakes for me.

What's impressed me about this comeback is that the Rockies really have had to win every game. The DBacks are 6-4 during this streak, demonstrating just how tough it is go come back from a big deficit if the leader plays .500 or better.

The Mets flipped for home field in case of a Wild Card tie yesterday. I updated this post. The Mets play at Colorado or host San Diego.

On Sept. 17, 1964, the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Dodgers 4-3 to open a 6 1/2 game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals. Philadelphia lost twelve of their next thirteen games to fall 2 1/2 games back in the race. They won their last two games, but two little too late. The Cardinals finished the season on an 11-5 tear and won the NL and the World Series. Gene Mauch's name became synonymous with late season collapses.

On Sept. 12, 2007, the Mets defeated Atlanta 4-3 to go up seven games in the NL East. Since that time, the Mets are 4-10 while the Phillies have posted an 11-3 record to tie the Mets with three games to go. It's too bad Gene is not around anymore, I'm sure he'd enjoy this turnaround.

Using the Day by Day Database, I looked at run differences in the NL through 9/17/1964. The Phillies owned the largest difference, but it wasn't large enough to put them up 6 1/2 games:

Run Difference Though 9/17/1964, NL Teams

Team	Run Difference
Phillies	82
Reds	78
Pirates	61
Giants	52
Cardinals	46
Dodgers	29

Like the 2007 NL, no team stood out in terms of both batting and pitching. So the Phillies lead was on a shaky foundation, and regression to the mean happened with a vengeance. Through 9/12, the Mets were in first place in the NL with a +71, and four teams were within 10 of that. The Phillies were +37. It's an excellent parallel.

Home Run Derby points out that a pledge by Brewers fans seems to have saved a lot of laundry bills.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

It's a final in Los Angeles as the Rockies defeat the Dodgers 10-4. With the Rockies winning tonight, they are two games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks going into a three game series. That means it's impossible for the two teams to finish even, killing the chance for a five way tie. However, four way ties are still possible.

There are two possibilities that lead to three days of playoffs:

Team	Record
Rockies	3-0
Phillies	2-1
Mets	2-1
Padres	1-2
Diamondbacks	0-3

In this case, the Rockies finish first in the NL West with ninety wins, while the four other teams are tied at eighty nine. The Mets and Phillies hold a one game playoff in Philadelphia, then the loser joins San Diego and Arizona in a two day, two game wild card tournament. This also works if the Rockies go 2-1. In that case, Arizona wins the division, and the Rockies take the Diamondbacks' place in the Wild Card tournament.

The other four way tie possibility goes like this:

Team	Record
Rockies	3-0
Phillies	3-0
Mets	3-0
Padres	2-1
Diamondbacks	0-3

In this case, the Rockies, Phillies, Mets and Padres are all tied, but the Diamondbacks get no chance to advance. There would be two playoff games on Monday for the division championship, then the two losers meet on Tuesday to determine the Wild Card winner.

I like the first four-way tie better, because it keeps more teams involved and takes longer to sort out. Not only does it have a higher probability of happening, but it's possible for the Brewers to tie the Cubs as well! It's also possible that the Mets, Phillies, Rockies and Padres all sweep, which would cause a three-way tie for the Wild Card between the Mets, Phillies and Rockies, also requiring a two-day playoff. In that one, the Mets and Phillies play for the NL East title in Philadelphia, with the loser playing Colorado the next day. The Phillies would play in Denver, but we don't know where New York would play because they didn't include the Mets in the tie-breaker flip for the Wild Card!

It's going to be a fun weekend. One nice thing, no matter what happens tomorrow, the better four way tie stays in play.

Correction: Fixed the result of the four team sweep. It wasn't a three-way tie for the wild card, it was an NL East playoff, then a wild card playoff, although for all intents and purposes, Colorado gets the Monday off.

Update: There was a coin toss yesterday.

MLB flipped a coin yesterday to decide the host of more possible two-team wild-card tiebreaker games on Monday. The Mets won two out of three. They would host the Padres or the Diamondbacks. But if the Mets have to face the Rockies, they would have to fly to Denver.

Todd Helton hits a two-run homer in the top of the seventh. It's just his sixteenth home run of the season, but it gives Colorado a great chance to win this game as they now lead 6-3. Time to start getting the four-way tie scenarios ready!

Update: Brad Hawpe clears the bases with a double in the top of the eighth, and the Rockies now lead 10-3. That's 76 runs in their last eleven games, and they're not finished yet. And more than half those games were in San Diego and Los Angeles, not exactly paradise for hitters.

James Loney is in the middle of the Dodgers scoring in the bottom of the fourth as they end Franklin Morales' scoreless streak. Loney triples in a run and then scores on a ground out, and the Dodgers now trail 3-2 in the fifth.

Update: The Rockies load the bases in the top of the sixth with none out. By the way, if the Rockies win there are a number of four team ties that are possible, and they even give the Cubs and Brewers a chance to tie each other.

A sacrifice fly makes it 4-2 Rockies, and the five way tie slips a little farther away.

Update: Kaz Matsui gets a base hit up the middle that appears to score the Rockies fifth run. But the ball grazed the umpire, making it a dead ball, and the runner has to go back to third. The bases are loaded again, this time with two out.

Update: Proctor comes in and gets a ground out to end the inning.

Update: The Dodger get two on in the bottom of the sixth, and with one out execute a double steal. A ground out brings in a run, and the Rockies go thte fourth pitcher of the inning. Man on third, two out for Russell Martin.

Update: Martin grounds one into the hole, but Troy Tulowitzki makes a strong throw to record the out at first. Colorado holds on to a 4-3 lead.

The Padres defeat the Brewers 9-5, the difference in the game the four unearned runs allowed by Milwaukee. The Brewers DER is low this year, and while they don't lead the league in errors, they're just another manifestation of balls getting through for hits.

For the second night in a row, Milwaukee fails to capitalize on a Cubs loss. They remain two games out with three to play. San Diego goes into the final weekend one game behind the Diamondbacks, and one game ahead of the Mets and Phillies in the wild card race, with the Colorado game pending.

Atkins and Hawpe go back-to-back in the top of the fourth inning against the Dodgers to take a 3-0 lead. If the Rockies win, the five team tie is an impossibility. I'm torn here, for as much as I'd like to see a five-way tie, I'd like to see the Rockies do well, too.

The Yankees rested five of their regulars tonight against Scott Kazmir and the Devil Rays. Damon, Giambi and Matsui started, but the rest of the team took the night off. With Philip Hughes on the mound, it was a relatively young team for New York. Kazmir pitched well, striking out ten over six innings to pass Johan Santana for the AL lead. But he had to leave after 100 pitches, with a 1-1 tie, and the Yankees took advantage of the Rays bullpen scoring twice to win the game 3-1. Philip Hughes didn't pitch as well, but lasted seven inning to make his one run hold up for the win.

Meanwhile in Boston, the Red Sox put most of the A-Team on the field, including starting pitcher Josh Beckett as they tried to close out the division. Despite a four for four night by Ortiz, in which he picked up a double and a home run, they fall to the Twins 5-4. They did load the bases in the ninth off Joe Nathan, but the Twins closer pulled out the game.

The Yankees are now two games out of first with three to play, and just need to gain those two games to win the division as they hold the tie-breaker with the Red Sox.

Correction: Changed Burkett to Beckett. Brain death is setting in.

The Mets finally got a well pitched game. Pedro helped save the bullpen by going seven innings, striking out eight and allowing three runs. The bullpen pitched two scoreless innings.

Unfortunately, Joel Pineiro and Jason Isringhausen combined to shutout the Mets. For the last ten games, the Mets lost despite a great offense. Today the pitching came through, but the offense didn't show up. With Philadelphia winning 6-4, there's now a tie for first place in the NL East.

Ryan Howard homered in the first inning to help the Phillies to a 4-0 lead over the Braves. They still hold that lead in the third when Ryan strikes out to set a single season record of 196. The Phillies broadcast has not acknowledged it.

Two batters later, Burrell hits a two run shot of his own to put the Phillies up 6-0.

The Marlins sweep the Cubs, winning by a score of 6-4 today. If the Brewers win the NL Central, they should send the Marlins a thank-you note.

The Marlins load the bases in the bottom of the sixth with none out. Kerry Wood comes in and strikes out Jason Wood for the first out.

Update: Ramirez grounds into a double play to end the inning. Great job by Kerry!

Chicago scores two runs in the top of the sixth on three hits and an error. That chases Olsen from the game, and the Cubs have the tying runs on base with one out.

Update: Lindstrom comes in and gets a strikeout, but then gives up a double as Soriano drives a ball to the wall in left. That plates a run and puts runners at second and third with two out for Theriot.

Update: Theriot grounds out to second to end the inning. To Ryan's credit, it was a medium roller, and he busted down the line trying to beat it out and almost did.

Hanley Ramirez homers to pick up his second run and RBI of the game. That puts the Marlins up 4-1in the bottom of the fifth. The Cubs had held Ramirez to a .174 BA with no extra-base hits coming into this game. He's making up for that in a hurry with a double, a sacrifice fly and a home run.

The Marlins score two more in the second inning, taking a 3-1 lead over the Cubs. Trachsel has now given up 14 earned runs in 15 innings with Chicago. There's a trade that didn't help the club.

Update: Love the comments on this game at Bleed Cubbie Blue, especially this one:

Love those late season trades.

Craig Monroe - completely worthless
Steve Trachsel - totally ineffective and cost us a few games
Jason Kendall - opens the floodgates for opposing base stealers.

Had Hendry done nothing, the Cubs would be in better shape.

A Theriot walk, a Lee double and a Ramriez single but the Cubs up 1-0 in the top of the first. Scott Olsen's not fooling anyone so far.

Update: Hanley Ramirez doubles and scores in the bottom of the first to tie the game at one. That gives Ramirez 122 runs scored on the season and 241 in two seasons. Not that the record for runs is 2295 by Rickey Henderson. That's 19 season of 120 runs. Two down for Hanley.

Arizona finishes off Pittsburgh 8-0. That makes a five way tie tougher. Colorado has to lose tonight then sweep the DBacks in Denver for that to happen. Still, hope springs eternal. The win is big for Arizona, however, as one win against Colorado, no matter the outcome of tonight's game, eliminates the Rockies from winning the division. Arizona's magic number against the Padres is currently three, although it might be two, since the DBacks own the tie breaker over San Diego. If AZ remains ahead of the Mets and Phillies, then they just need to tie San Diego to win the division.

For example, if the Mets and Phillies go 0-4, the DBacks go 1-2 and the Padres go 3-1. The Dbacks win the division, but the sum of Arizona wins and San Diego losses is 2. The Padres take the wild card in this situation, since the best Colorado does is 88 wins.

Owings is just dominating the Pirates on both sides of the ball today. He picked up his third hit of the day, a single, to raise his batting average to .328. That's one less hit than he's allowed to the Pirates. Through six innings he hasn't allowed a run, and threw just seventy seven pitches. He's in good shape to save the bullpen for the weekend at Coors as the DBacks lead 6-0 in the top of the seventh.

Update: As I wrote the above, Owings doubled again, his third of the game and fourth hit on the day. He's now batting .339 with a .695 slugging percentage. Two more RBI gives him three for the day, fifteen on the year and puts the DBacks up 8-0.

Update: The game gets delayed with one out in the bottom of the seventh. If they can't resume (and the radar looks really bad), Owings gets a complete game shutout!

Update: The game does resume but Owings doesn't. He does pick up a short shutout however.

Micah Owings picks up another double in the fourth, his sixth of the season and second of the game. He's now hitting .316 on the season with a .667 slugging percentage.

Tony Armas pitches the third for the Pirates and retires the side in order. Arizona should try to get through the next two innings as fast as possible so this game is official. Armas threw 19 pitches in that inning, so the DBacks aren't trying to put the ball in play early.

Update: There aren't many fans at the game today, so you can hear all the chants. A group was just yelling, "Tracy must go!"

Mets fans appear to be a little jealous of the Yankees.

6-4-2 Addresses the idea that the Dodgers might trade some of their young talent:

Kemp, of course, is seventh in VORP among right fielders (19.2 VORP in 293 PA), an amazing feat considering that, among the top ten, every other player has more at-bats, even the Dodgers' number two man by VORP, Andre Ethier (15.3 VORP in 499 PA). So, who are these players Colletti is planning on getting to replace that production? If the rumors of a Kershaw/Kemp for Johan Santana deal are accurate, this team deserves to fail.

Micah Owings doubles down the leftfield line, driving in Ojeda to put Arizona up 2-0. He's slugging .643 on the season with ten of his seventeen hits going for extra bases.

Update: Drew drives in Owings for the third run of the game and the second RBI for Stephen.

Update: Byrnes drives in a run, and the Pittsburgh fans are booing.

Stephen Drew gets the Diamondbacks off to an early 1-0 lead with his twelfth home run of the season. After a nice cup of coffee last season, Drew's 2007 looks like a major disappointment, at least offensively. With the home run, his OPS is just .679.

Update: It's starting to rain in the bottom of the first. I believe they'll wait forever to get this game in. If, for some reason, they can't play it, Arizona would likely need to fly back to Pittsburgh to make up the game on Monday.

This afternoon's matchup between Brandon Webb and Paul Maholm appears to favor the Diamondbacks. Not only is Webb the Arizona ace, but his ERA drops 0.3 runs on the road. This means, of course, that the Rockies won't see Webb this weekend. Maholm has pitched 4 2/3 innings in September and allowed 21 hits.

Update: I just looked at the boxscore, and Micah Owings is facing John Van Benschoten. Still, that favors the Diamondbacks.

Update: The Pirates broadcast said Webb was held back because of the chance of bad weather.

If Josh Beckett pitches 5 2/3 innings today without allowing an earned run, he'll move ahead of Carmona for the ERA lead. So while this isn't a huge game for the Red Sox, it could be a big game toward getting Beckett a Cy Young award.

The Phillies send youngster Kyle Kendrick against the ageless John Smoltz. John is posting his lowest ERA as a starter since 1998. Kendrick saved the Phillies rotation this year, although he is vulnerable to left-handed batters.

Pedro Martinez tries to go 4-0 tonight as he faces the Cardinals. The Mets need the bullpen saved a bit, so we'll see if Martinez can keep his pitch count low.

San Diego and Milwaukee are each fighting for their lives in their divisions, so this four game series could be a lot of fun. I suspect there will be a lot of managerial second guessing. Rookies open the series as Jack Cassel faces Yovani Gallardo. Yovani allowed just a .208 BA in Milwaukee this season. Cassel hasn't pitched much, but the league is batting .387 against him. I suspect we'll see the Padres bullpen early tonight.

And Colorado takes on the Dodgers as they try to extend their winning streak to eleven games. Franklin Morales hasn't allowed a run in his last three starts, allowing just seven hits in seventeen innings. He'll face Esteban Loaiza, who has an 8.53 ERA since joining the Dodgers. Athletics fans complained that Billy Beane got nothing for Esteban, but it looks like that's all he was worth.

I don't like the way the pitching matchups worked out for the massive tie. Both the Diamondbacks and Rockies should be favored to win, and one of them (but not both) needs to lose to keep the five-way tie intact.

Enjoy!

One commenter asked in this post, "What happens if there is a five-way tie???" Chris gave the basic explanation there, but to help out, here's the list coin flip results for two way ties. So, if the Mets and Phillies are tied, they play Monday in Philadelphia.

Breaking the three-way tie in the west would be trickier. If a three way tie happens, Colorado will have the best combined record between the three teams, with Arizona second and San Diego third. Colorado gets to select if it wants to play at home on day one, and then at home on day two if they win, or on the road for game two only. My guess is they take the day off. Arizona would then likely take the first home game, and the winner would host Colorado on Tuesday.

The loser of the NL East game, and the losers of the Monday and Tuesday games in the NL West, meet in another two game tournament on Wednesday and Thursday. We'll deal with that possibility when we get there, but right now the Rockies have a winning record against all other opponents.

From Billy Wagner:

Asked if he was surprised to see Hernández in the bullpen, Wagner quipped, "No, I think they're bringing back Tom Seaver tomorrow." Then, walking away, he added, "Whoever can get three outs."

Dave Krieger of the Rockey Mountain News apologizes for underestimating the Rockies:

I did not appreciate the kid Rocks sufficiently.

Back on March 1, I wrote in this space that the Rocks would win 85 games this year. Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, they won No. 86. And they still have four to play.

In my defense, this is all uncharted territory. The Rocks are guaranteed the best record in their 15-year history. Their current 10-game winning streak is the longest in the big leagues this year. They are one game behind San Diego in the wild-card race and two behind Arizona for the National League West division flag.

"The average fan might not have seen this coming, but the average baseball person did," Ken Rosenthal wrote on FoxSports.com a couple of days ago.

Frankly, the average baseball person kept awful quiet about it. Back in March, I got a lot of mail calling my prediction idiotic, but not one correspondent called it too low. Or Tulo, for that matter.

He may also lose a bet to the Rockies owner, who picked the club to win the NL West.

Update: Just to be fair, here's my look at the NL West from the start of the season. I had the Rockies third in a coin toss division.

While the four AL teams are set, the matchups are still to be determined. We may know by the end of the day, however, as a Cleveland win or a LAnaheim loss means the Indians will play the wild card from the AL East. The Indians hold the tie-breaker with the Angels. So if Cleveland wins tonight, they will get home field in the first round.

Then, a Yankees loss and a Red Sox win means Boston wins the east, so in that case the playoffs are set. Right now, it looks like New York plays Cleveland and Boston plays LAnaheim.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Padres win 11-3 as Jake Peavy wins his nineteenth game of the season. He finishes with a 2.36 ERA and with only one K tonight, 234 strikeouts in 217 innings. Looks like he's more than earned the Cy Young award this season.

It was a great day for the massive tie scenario. Although the Braves lost, eliminating the six team tie, The Mets and Diamondbacks leads are down to one. Here is the only way the tie can happen at this point:

Team	Record
Rockies	3-1
Phillies	3-1
Padres	2-2
Mets	2-2
Diamondbacks	1-3

Thursday's Rockies and Diamondbacks games are very important. The two teams need to have opposite outcomes, or a tie between the two is not possible. Given that, here's what to look for tomorrow:

• Arizona does the opposite of the Rockies. Losing to Pittsburgh makes the odds of a five way tie higher, however.
• Philadelphia defeats Atlanta.
• New York defeats St. Louis.
• San Diego defeats Milwaukee.
• Colorado does the opposite of Arizona. Defeating Los Angeles makes the odds of the five way tie higher, however.

Remember, if the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies are an even number of games back going into their three game series, there can't be a tie. Given that the DBacks play at 12:30 EDT (bring those radios to school), we'll know what Colorado needs about six hours before they play the Dodgers.

Correction: Fixed the W-L table. Because of the need to be an odd number of games out, the Rockies can't go 4-0 and still get a tie. That's why I shouldn't write at 1 AM. :(

The Rockies won with offense on Tuesday, and Wednesday it was the pitching. Josh Fogg gets a short shutout, going 6 2/3 innings before giving way to three relievers. Their combined effort yielded eight hits and three walks, but no runs allowed. The Rockies extend their winning streak to ten games and gain on the Diamondbacks. They're just two games out of the division lead and will probably end the night one game back of the Padres as San Diego leads San Francisco 11-2 in the ninth. It's been a very good night for the massive tie scenario. The Rockies offense didn't do much today, but Matt Holliday picked up his 12th RBI in the ten game streak. The win also means that no matter what happens tomorrow, the weekend series against Arizona will be meaningful.

Jake Peavy pitched five innings so far tonight and hasn't struck out a batter. The Giants managed just four hits so far, none from Barry Bonds who did start tonight. He's 0 for 2 so far. The Padres lead 9-2 in the sixth. Hairston is the only starter without a hit so far.

Update: Hairston homered. The Padres now lead 11-2 in the eighth. Bonds went 0 for 3 before he was double switched out.

Matt Morris' veteran presence trumped Livan Hernandez's tonight as the Pirates defeated the Diamondbacks 5-1. Livan gave up ten hits in four innings, while Matt struck out seven and walked none over seven innings, allowing just one run.

The five-way massive tie is doing well tonight, as the Phillies won and the Mets and DBacks lose. San Diego and Colorado are both winning early.

The Yankees win 12-4, capturing a berth in the AL Playoffs for the 13th consecutive season. Damon, Jeter and Posada each picked up three hits, and Cano collected two hits, one a homer, and five RBI.

It caps quite a season for New York. They were .500 at the break after being as many as eight games under at the end of June. They've gone 48-24 in the second half to reach 91 wins and likely a wild card slot. Congratulations to the Yankees on a great comeback! It was all offense as the pitching staff posted a higher ERA after the break, but the offense scored 6.5 runs per game, which is more than enough for a team with an ERA around 4.50.

Fausto Carmona did nothing to hurt his Cy Young chances tonight, pitching seven strong inning as Cleveland defeated the Mariners 12-4. He gave up seven hits without issuing a walk. He ends the season with a 3.06 ERA and a .248 batting average allowed. He walked 65 batters in 215 innings while striking out 137. A 19-8 record and the best ERA in the league isn't bad for a pitcher's first full year starting. Cleveland's magic number for clinching best record in the AL goes down to five.

After Daniel Barone pitched poorly for 3 2/3 innings, he leaves with the score tied at four. The Marlins, however, use seven relievers to shut down the Cubs the rest of the way and take the game 7-4. The bullpen gave up three hits and struck out six in 5 1/3 innings of work. Luckily for the Cubs, the Brewers are losing 6-2 in the eighth.

Update: The seven relief pitcher gambit doesn't work the the Brewers as they allow four runs in three innings and lose to the Cardinals 7-3. Albert Pujols homered and score three runs tonight. He also drove in a run to give him 100 RBI in all seven seasons he's played. He needs to score four more runs to extend his 100 runs scored streak to the same length.

Jimmy Rollins picked up three hits tonight, including his 19th triple. He needs one more to become the second player this season with 20 doubles, triples and home runs. It's never been done twice in one season before. The Phillies win 5-2, eliminating the chance for a six way tie. Ryan Howard didn't strikeout out, so he still needs one to set the record.

The Mets have given up 70 runs in their last nine games, and they're doing just as badly tonight. They've blown a 5-0 lead and now trail the Nationals 7-6 in the seventh inning. Humber and Smith wasted two home runs by Beltran and a solo shot by Alou.

Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis both started for the Red Sox this afternoon. Manny picked up three hits and a walk, and Youkilis reached base twice. The Red Sox defeat the Athletics 11-6, as the offense is looking very good. Manny batted second again today, but I wonder if with Youkilis back Kevin returns to the two slot soon.

If you missed tonight's show, you can hear the recorded version here. It's also available on demand at TPSRadio.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

The Texas Rangers defeated the LAnaheim Angels today 16-2. The Rangers are sort of the opposite of the Arizona Diamondbacks. With the win today, the Rangers are 19 games under .500, but they only been outscored by 20 runs on the season. Arizona has been outscored by 15 runs, but they're 19 games over .500. It's as if someone sucked all the luck out of Arlington and sent it to Phoenix.

Michael Young picked up three hits to reach 200 for the fifth year in a row.

Gary Matthews left the game with an injured knee:

Center fielder Gary Matthews came out with an irritated left knee after a running catch to end the first inning. The team said Matthews, who was playing his fifth game since missing 10 with a sprained right ankle, will be evaluated Friday in Oakland.

The Angels may fall farther behind Boston and Cleveland in the race for best record in the AL. The Red Sox lead 5-4 in the top of the fifth.

Has anyone seen video of Milton Bradley throwing the bat after the strikeout in the fifth on Sunday? I'd like to know if it really looked like he was throwing it at the ump.

My final article at Baseball Prospectus is available to subscribers of that fine site.

I knew that Prince Fielder didn't get along with his father Cecil, but I didn't know it was this bad:

Don't get him wrong. Prince Fielder is plenty pleased with becoming the youngest player to hit 50 homers in a season.

But he really wants to hit 52 - especially if it helps Milwaukee reach the playoffs.

Fielder connected twice Tuesday night to help the Brewers beat St. Louis 9-1, bringing Milwaukee within two games of the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. It also allowed the typically jovial slugger to surpass Willie Mays as the youngest to reach that single-season milestone.

But Fielder was serious when he talked about hitting two more. His estranged father, former major leaguer Cecil Fielder, hit 51 home runs with Detroit in 1990 - and surpassing that total would be especially sweet.

"That's why I'm so passionate about playing,'' the younger Fielder said. "Hopefully one day, whenever they mention my name, they won't have to mention his.''

That's a far cry from the Griffey's homering together for Seattle back in 1989.

The Angels and Rangers are underway, and the Rangers take the lead 3-0 in the bottom of the first. Michael Young picks up his 198th hit of the season, and Sammy Sosa hits his 21st home run of the season, a shot to deep right center.

So was signing Sosa worth it? His OBA is .309 and his slugging percentage is .464 after the homer. It seems you should be able to find a DH better than that. It's not surprising they've made him a part time player.

Update: Gary Matthews is playing with a bad ankle, and he appears to have aggravated the injury catching a deep drive by Nelson Cruz. He looked like he wanted to leap, then just took a little jump, caught the ball, return to earth and crumpled to the ground. He was limping off the field when they went to commercial.

Update: Matthews is out of the game.

Squawking Baseball provides financial analysis of the market for players. They are trying to develop an open source financial database and are looking for your help. Stop by and see if you can contribute.

The Angels and Rangers game is being delayed by rain.

MLB suspended Mike Winters over the Milton Bradley incident (hat tip, Baseball Digest Daily).

The decision was made following an investigation during which Bradley, Winters, San Diego first-base coach Bobby Meacham and Colorado first baseman Todd Helton were interviewed.

The key moment in the decision, according to multiple sources, came as a result of Winters calling Bradley a "f------ piece of s---" during the heated argument at first base.

That moment is what appears to have escalated what already was a heated argument into a situation that spun so badly out of control that Bradley suffered a season-ending knee injury while being restrained by Padres manager Bud Black.

"There's a code of conduct, and what you're not supposed to do is engage these guys," one source with knowledge of the investigation said. "Umpires are supposed to call balls and strikes, safe and out and keep the flow of the game going. When tempers get high, they're supposed to help bring them back down, not make the situation worse."

Wow. I'm glad MLB took this action. Maybe they should demote Winters back to AAA next year, and let him relearn how to be an umpire. Too bad there is no one to throw umpires out of a game. Any player saying that to Winters would be back in the clubhouse in a second.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

The schedule is filled with important games today and tonight, but the best pitching matchup goes to Minnesota at Detroit. The Tigers' playoff hopes hang by a thread as they send Jair Jurrjens against Johan Santana. Jurrjens impresses with his control, allowing just eight walks in his first 27 2/3 innings pitched. The four home runs allowed, however, have hurt him. Home runs hurt Santana too as he allowed nine more than last season, helping his ERA jump by 0.5 runs.

The other matchup to watch also pits a young veteran against a good rookie. Jake Peavy and Pat Misch face off in San Francisco. In three starts, Misch struck out 16 in 15 1/3 innings, and with Peavy leading the NL in strikeouts, fans won't need fans tonight. And it's likely to be Barry Bonds' last game as a Giant at home, if his toe allows him to play. Knowing how much San Francisco fans love him, I suspect it will be a very emotional night.

Enjoy!

Tom Verducci explodes some post-season fallacies. He also has information on the Mitchell investigation.

Marc Ecko announced the results of his on-line, scientific poll and he'll brand the Bonds' record breaking ball with an asterisk before donating it to the Hall of Fame. Jerk is too mild a word for what I think of Ecko. I'm surprised the Hall of Fame wants anything to do with this:

Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey, also interviewed on the show, said accepting the ball did not mean the Hall endorses the viewpoint that Barry Bonds used drugs.

"We're happy to get it," he said. "We're a nonprofit history museum, so this ball wouldn't be coming to Cooperstown without Marc Ecko buying it from the fan who caught it."

My respect for the Hall of Fame just went down a notch. Since when does a museum endorse mutilating history? I hope they display the ball with the asterisk on the bottom hidden by the pedestal.

Update: I just wrote the Hall telling them I'm ashamed of them. If you want to write, there is a form here, as well as telephone numbers. I sent my letter to general information.

The Colorado Rockies held on to defeat the Dodgers last night 9-7. Each team scored in each of the last four half innings, but the Rockies won that mini-game, too, 3-2. Colorado gains on every team except the Padres, who won on a Giles home in the ninth inning. Here's the update on the highest winning percentage outcome resulting in a five-way tie:

Team	Record
Rockies	5-0
Phillies	5-0
Padres	4-1
Mets	3-2
Diamondbacks	2-3

Note that because the Rockies finish with three games against the Diamondbacks, those two teams have to be separated by an odd number of games going into the series. If Arizona splits the next two and the Rockies win both, a tie can't happen. Over the next two games we either want the teams to have the same record, or for Arizona to lose two and the Rockies to win two.

But with Atlanta winning last night, there's now a remote chance of a six-way tie.

Team	Record
Braves	5-0
Rockies	3-2
Phillies	3-2
Padres	2-3
Mets	1-4
Diamondbacks	0-5

The problem with this scenario is that very specific outcomes are required. The Phillies have to lose two to Atlanta and win their last three games. The Rockies have to lose their next two to Los Angeles, then sweep the Diamondbacks. But there is the kernel of another five way tie here. If you drop Arizona from the list, then there is a little more flexibility in getting those five teams even at the end of the season.

So with five days left, we have a long shot at a six-way tie, and two possibilities for a five way tie. On top of all that, the Brewers gained a game on the Cubs, so we could end up with a tie in the NL Central as well. There is a very small chance that the regular season ends with half the National League teams still in the playoff hunt.

As for today, here are the best results:

• Atlanta or Philadelphia wins. This is the tough one to call. The Braves winning keeps the six-way alive, but lessens the chance of a five-way involving the DBacks, which is the most likely five way. Root for the Braves here to keep the most teams alive.
• Pittsburgh defeats Arizona. Not necessary for a five-way, but the more Arizona loses, the less the need for a Colorado sweep.
• Washington defeats the New York Mets.
• Colorado defeats Los Angeles. Tomorrow will present critical games for Arizona and Colorado, as they need to be an odd number of games apart going into their three-game series.
• Giants or Padres win. It's probably better for the Padres to lose for the six-way, but win for the higher probability five-way.

As always, I'm not rooting for or against any team here. I understand there are fans who want their team to win outright. But a six-way tie results in two days of playoff to determine the division winners, then two days of playoffs to determine the wild card. Who doesn't want seven extra single elimination games?

Correction: Fixed the six-way chart.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Padres score four in the top of the ninth, taking a 6-4 lead on a long home run by Brian Giles. It's only his 12th home run, but his 10th since Aug. 1.

The Rockies and Dodgers are locked in a good, close game tonight. Colorado got off to a 2-0 lead, but Hu homered to tie it (the man on first?). The Rockies come right back with two in the fifth, but Loney homers to plate three and give Los Angeles a 5-4 lead. Troy Tulowitzki, however, hits his 23rd homer of the season in the top of the six and the Rockies lead once again 6-5. With his 3 for 3 tonight, Loney is slugging .542 on the season.

The Yankees lose 7-6 in ten innings as former New York prospect Dioner Navarro homers to win the game in a walk off. The twenty-three year old catcher has started to come around, batting .306 since the start of August. He was a hot prospect when the Yankees traded him and other for Randy Johnson. Looks like he starting to realize his potential.

With the Tigers win, the Yankees magic number remains at one over Detroit, and Seattle can still tie as well as they start a series with Cleveland.

The Brewers defeat the Cardinals 9-1, closing the gap with Chicago to two games. Both Milwaukee and St. Louis collected ten hits and drew three walks. But four of the Brewers hits were home runs, including two by Fielder. Without the long ball, the Cardinals only went 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position. They had their chances but couldn't deliver.

Moises Alou picked up four hits tonight, and is hitting .345/.396/.529 on the season. His season age is 40 but he turned 41 in July. It's a remarkable career in that Alou is playing at this level despite a ton of serious injuries in his career. He suffered one of the ugliest broken legs I've seen in 1993 when his spike caught in artificial turf. I'll never forget the second baseman and umpire turning away in horror at the compound fracture.

Then after the 1998 season, he tore his ACL in his left leg and missed the entire season. In between both shoulder underwent surgery. And through it all Moises kept coming back and playing very well. Imagine what he would have accomplished with better health.

Jose Reyes hits his second home run of the game, a three run shot in the ninth to close the score to 10-6 in favor of the Nationals. The Mets have a runner at first with one out as Washington goes to their closer.

Update: Wright singles off Cordero to put runners on first and second with one out.

Update: Beltran walks to load the bases. Alou represents the tying run at the plate.

Update: Delgado strikes out. For some reason, the pinch-runner Chavez was running, and he steals third as Zimmerman trips over third catching the ball so he can't apply the tag. Lo Duca flies out to left to end the game, and Washington survives to win 10-9.

The Mets magic number goes down to four with the Phillies loss.

Update: Unbelievable Mikey! Alou picks up his fourth hit of the game, a double to the wall in left. The outfielders were playing him to pull, so by the time they get to the ball, the bases are cleared. The Mets are down one, 10-9 with a runner on second and one out. What an amazing comeback!

Prince Fielder goes deep to the opposite field as he delivers his second home run of the game and reaches the 50 home run mark. He and his dad Cecil become the first father-son combination to each reach 50 homers. Cecil hit 51 in 1990 for the Detroit Tigers. The Brewers lead 9-1 in the seventh as they try to gain a game on Chicago.

The Phillies collect six hits tonight, but four of them are homers. The long balls produce five runs, as many as Atlanta picked up with two dingers. But Atlanta kept hitting, knocking out thirteen safeties to take the game 10-6. They gain a game on the Phillies in the wild card race, and may gain a game overall if the Padres lose.

Melky Cabrera hits a sacrifice fly to Gomes, who nearly throws out Sardinha at the plate. It was a great throw, and Navarro had the tag, but the ball was knocked loose from his glove and the Yankees tie the game at six in the top of the eighth.

Kevin Youkilis pinch hits for Eric Hinske and stays in to play first. That makes the Red Sox line up complete, good news for Red Sox fans. Boston leads 7-1 in the eighth as Ortiz hit a two run homer in the inning.

The Pittsburgh bullpen can't hold a 5-1 lead as the Diamondbacks score four in the eighth to tie the game at five. Winning close games is Arizona's forte, so we'll see if they can pull out another close win.

Update: The Pirates beat the DBacks at their own game as La Roche doubles to start the eighth and Phelps singles him home after a balk. Capps caps off the game with a save, and the Pirates end their nine game losing streak, 6-5. Arizona is now 32-19 in one runs games, the Pirates 16-21.

Kei Igawa pitches five shutout innings, but the Yankees relievers blow the 5-0 lead. Bruney gives up a grand slam to Jorge Velandia. Jorge's been up and down since 1997, and his first home run is a doozy. The Yankees trail 6-5.

Meanwhile, the Tigers win 8-0 behind Yorman Bazardo. His ERA is down to 2.28.

Dontrelle Willis bounced back tonight to put a dent in the Cubs playoff hopes. Willis allowed just two hits over eight innings while striking out seven. With the Brewers leading 4-1, the NL Central may get a game closer tonight.

The Phillies score four runs over the fourth and fifth innings to comeback to a 5-4 lead over Atlanta. But Moyer and Geary give it back and more as Atlanta scored four in the top of the six and lead 8-5.

The right side of the Brewers infield goes deep in the first as Weeks and Fielder connect for three runs. They've added one in the second to take a 4-0 lead over the Cardinals. That puts Fielder one home run away from 50. The Cubs are still losing 4-0 to the Marlins in the top of the seventh.

Ian Snell is doing his best to help the NL toward a massive tie. He's not pitching a great game, having given up seven hits and three walks through five innings. But all those hits are singles, and he's spread them out enough to only allow one run. Right now, that's all the Pirates need as he holds on to a 2-1 lead over Arizona in the sixth.

Alex Rodriguez, after a long drought, hits home run 53 on the season. It's a big one, too, a grand slam that puts the Yankees up 5-0 in the third as they try to clinch a playoff spot. That takes him to 151 RBI and 139 runs scored, a total of 290 on the season.

By the way, no player has ever ended a season with 53 home runs. There were seven 52 home runs seasons and five 54 home run seasons, but never a 53. Maybe that will change this year.

Three teams involved in division races all have given up four runs already. The Mets are down 4-2, the Marlins lead the Cubs 4-0, and the Braves are up 4-1 on the Phillies. Dontrelle Willis has a single and is now batting .283 on the season.

There's good news for Red Sox fans as Manny Ramirez returns to the lineup. He bats second, singles and scores in the first as the Red Sox and Athletics are tied at one. They just need to get Youkilis back to complete the offense.

Tom Glavine is famous for his first inning woes, and tonight was no exception. He allows Kearns and Batista go deep for four runs, and the Nationals lead the Mets 4-1 in the first. The ball is flying out of Shea tonight as Jose Reyes hits a leadoff home run for the Mets.

Curt Schilling tries to make it six good outings in a row as the Red Sox host the Oakland Athletics tonight. Even Schilling's four runs allowed against New York was more a function of the manager leaving him in too long. Having both Beckett and Schilling strong going into the playoffs is a major boost for Boston.

The Phillies host the Braves tonight. Atlanta trails Philadelphia and San Diego by three in the wild card race, so a sweep by the Phillies and some help could bring Atlanta back into the race. Chuck James battles Jamie Moyer tonight.

Arizona's magic number is down to four as they draw the Pirates, tied for the worst record in the NL. They'll face a tough pitcher as Doug Davis takes on Ian Snell. The Pirates are reeling, however, having lost nine in a row. It hasn't been pretty as Pittsburgh has been outscored 73-32 during the streak.

Ted Lilly's wins are equal to Dontrelle Willis' losses as the promising Marlins left-hander finishes up the worst season of his career. Ted's pitched very well vs. right-handed batters, allowing a .230 BA and a .285 OBA this season.

Keep your eye on Roger Clemens tonight as he tries to pitch the Yankees into the playoffs. He's suffering from various injuries and I'll be curious to see how well he does against the Devil Rays offense. Tampa Bay on average scored a run less per game than the Yankees.

Jeff Suppan and Braden Looper take their high 4.00's ERAs into battle as Milwaukee tries to hold on in the NL Central. Prince Fielder is just two home runs away from joining his dad as 50 home run hitters. They'd be the first father-son combination to accomplish the feat.

The Angels play in Texas, where Michael Young is three hits away from his fifth straight 200 hit season. His slow start in April was the anomaly, as he picked up at least 32 hits in every other month this year.

Colorado may see their eight game winning streak come to an end as they face Brad Penny and the Dodgers. One third of Penny's nine home runs came off the Rockies bats, however. Ubaldo Jimenez is 2-0 against the Dodgers this year with a 3.65 ERA, although he's walked six and struck out four in 12 1/3 innings.

Finally, the Padres and Giants face off in San Francisco. Will Barry Bonds play tonight? There's just two home games left, and I'm sure the Bay Area fans want to see the home run king at least one more time. If he plays this evening, he'll have a chance to add Brett Tomko to the list of pitchers Barry took deep.

Enjoy!

Update: I've been informed Clemens will not pitch and Kei Igawa will take the mound. We'll see if he's learned anything in the minors.

Cleveland leads the race for best record in the American League, and as far as the Yankees are concerned, they lead Anaheim by one game, two in the loss column. If the season ends like this, as the Wild Card the Yankees draw Cleveland, but if they win the division, New York ends up playing LAnaheim. Although I'm sure they'll say publicly they don't care, the Yankees likely prefer facing the Indians. That doesn't give them a lot of incentive to finish tied or ahead of Boston. The Yankees are 6-0 against Cleveland this year, 3-6 against LAnaheim, and the Yankees have lost the two times they played the Angels in the post season.

There's been speculation for over a week that Neal Huntington would get the job as Pirates GM. That came to pass today. From Frank Coonelly's letter to the fans:

I am extremely excited to officially announce today that we have hired Neal Huntington as our new General Manager. After a comprehensive search for a baseball executive who can restore the culture of success within the Pirates organization, Neal is absolutely the right choice to lead our baseball operations department and to build a winning organization of which all Pirates fans can be proud.

As you get to know Neal and hear from him personally, you will see that he is extremely intelligent, analytical and driven to succeed. Neal is highly regarded throughout the game as an outstanding evaluator of talent and as one of the young executives who understands and utilizes the most sophisticated statistical and analytical tools of the trade.

I don't know much about Huntington, but the Indians are a high quality organization, and it's nice to see that the Pirates went for someone from there. It's a move in the right direction.

When it comes to managers, the Athletics seem to have things backward:

• In 2002, the Athletics win the division, tie a franchise record for wins, and Art Howe loses his job.
• In 2006, the Athletics win the division, win the ALDS for the first time, and Ken Macha loses his job.
• In 2007, the Athletics finish under .500 for the first time since 1998, and Bob Geren receives a two year extension.

The front office seems to have missed the part about rewarding success and punishing failure.

The Padres fell to the Giants last night 9-4 as Chris Young pitches another poor game. Zito didn't pitch much better, but the Padres timing was worse as they went 4 for 15 with runners in scoring position vs. 6 for 16 for the Giants.

The loss reduces the Diamondbacks magic number to four. It increases the chance for a three way wild card tie but a tie involving the Diamondbacks is looking iffy. We still have a shot at the Mets tying the three wild card contenders, however, resulting in three days of playoffs.

Here are the outcomes that result in the highest winning percentage.

Team	Record
Rockies	6-0
Phillies	5-1
Padres	5-1
Mets	3-3
Diamondbacks	2-4

In order to help this along, look for these results today:

• Philadelphia defeats Atlanta
• Pittsburgh defeats Arizona
• Washington defeats New York
• Colorado defeats Los Angeles
• San Diego defeats San Francisco

Colorado really holds the key here. With three games against Arizona, they have the opportunity to pull this all together the last weekend of the season.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Brewers score six unearned runs as they defeat the Cardinals 13-5. Wainwright gives up nine runs but only four are earned. Still, Wainwright didn't exactly pitch well as he allowed ten base runners and threw two wild pitches in five innings of work.

The top of the Brewers order was scary tonight as they go nine for eighteen with two walks. They scored ten of the thirteen runs. The win puts the Brewers even with the Cubs in games played, three behind Chicago.

The Giants pound Chris Young for seven runs in three innings. He just struck out Roberts looking to end the third, but it was a gift from the umpire as the ball was well inside. The Giants have collected seven hits and drawn three walks, as Young's location is way off. Young's failure to return to form after his injury certainly makes San Diego a less formidable team should they make the playoffs.

Michael Axisa sends this story about Mark Buehrle missing his last start by winning a bet:

The deal was if Mark Buehrle got his bear, he was out of the starting rotation for the rest of the season.

Saturday night, the White Sox left-hander kept up his end of the bargain.

Sometimes the bear gets you, however. Buehrle was 0-1 vs. the Cubs this season.

The Nationals pound the Mets 13-4 tonight. Mike Pelfrey allows five hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings, letting seven runs cross the plate. He's walked 39 in 72 2/3 innings this season, and that lack of control won't win him many games. The Phillies make up a loss, and now sit two games back of New York with six to play. The Mets have allowed 70 runs in their last nine games, which actually makes their 4-5 record in that time rather impressive.

Correction: Fixed spelling of Pelfrey.

Tampa Bay decides to drop the Devil from its name. The Rays immediately traded for Ray King, Ray Durham and Ray Olmedo. It's only a matter of time before Ray Knight is managing. :-)

The Minnesota Twins shutout the Detroit Tigers 2-0 tonight, reducing the Yankees magic number to one. Carlos Silva gets a short shutout as he goes 7 2/3 innings. He didn't walk a batter, and he only struck out one.

Silva's made a nice recovery from last year. With low strikeout totals, he still gives up a lot of hits. But he's cut his home runs allowed in half from last year, and his ERA is back to his career average.

Mike Cameron will miss the rest of the regular season:

Not only will the Padres be without Bradley for the final week and a possible playoff appearance, but they'll get little if any contribution from center fielder Mike Cameron, who has a torn ligament in his right thumb.

Cameron was hurt when he made a sliding attempt at Garrett Atkins' inside-the-park home run, then had Bradley step on his hand. Black said before Monday night's game at San Francisco that Cameron might be able to pinch-run this week, but that would be it.

Brady Clark and Scott Hairston take over for the two injured outfielders tonight. Hairston's played very well for the Padres, but if you take his career as a whole he can't match Bradley.

The Padres do get off to an early lead on singles by Brian Giles and Kevin Kouzmanoff, assisted by an error and a wild pitch. They lead 1-0 in the first.

Austin Kearns takes Mike Pelfry deep to put the Nationals up 5-1 over the Mets. Kearns hasn't hit for much power this year, but this was his eighth home run with men on base out of the fifteen he's hit.

Prince Fielder hits his forty eighth home run of the season, a three-run shot in the first inning that gives the Brewers a 4-0 lead. The first five batters have reached on a walk, three hits and an error. Wainwright appears extremely hittable tonight.

Early in my days at ESPN I had a discussion with a producer about Rickey Henderson. The producer didn't like Rickey because he was inconsistent. The problem was the producer was only looking at Rickey's batting average. If you looked at his OBA instead, you saw an extremely consistent ballplayer. It was just some years Rickey collected more hits, and some years he drew more walks.

Looking at Rickey Weeks' stats, I'm seeing the same thing. His batting average is down about 50 points from last season, but his OBA is up ten points. He has 12 fewer his but over 40 more walks. He walks to lead off the first tonight and scores. I'll take the fluctuating batting average as long as the player keeps his OBA consistently high.

Jon Weisman asked which NL West team I would most fear facing in the playoffs. Mine and other answers are in Jon's Fungoes column at SI.

With a week to go in the regular season, MLB set a new attendance record.

The average of 32,710 was up 4 percent from last year's final average of 31,423 and on pace to top the record of 31,632 set in 1994 before a strike interrupted the season.

As you can see by looking at the bottom of the list, there's a lot of room for growth. Putting 10,000 more a game in Florida and Tampa would add another 1.6 million to the total.

The Yankees keep Detroit's hope for a playoff spot alive for another day as they lose to Toronto 4-1. Litsch and Janssen combined for one strikeout and no walks (although Litsch hit a batter) as the Yankees went just 5 for 28 when putting the ball in play. Four of the Yankees five hits were doubles, however. The Yankees now need to play two games better than the Red Sox the rest of the week to win the division.

The Yankees are suffering a shutout at the hands of Jesse Litsch. Through four innings he's allowed just two hits and no walks. The Yankees are putting the ball in play, as no one has struck out, but the balls aren't falling for hits. The Blue Jays lead 4-0 in the top of the fifth.

I just heard on the Yankees broadcast that Milton Bradley's knee injury will keep him out into the 2008 season.

Update: Here's the story from ESPN.

An MRI taken by Padres left fielder Milton Bradley shows he has a torn ACL, a source told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark, and the volatile outfielder is expected to miss the rest of this season and part of next year, too.

Black would have been better off letting Bradley punch the ump.

The Blue Jays and Yankees meet this afternoon in a makeup game, and the Yankees can clinch a tie for the AL Wild Card with a win. A.J. Burnett faces Andy Pettitte in a battle of the double-Ts. Burnett's been particularly effective against left-handed batters this season, which might gives the Yankees trouble. He's only allowed New York one run in fifteen innings pitched against them in 2007. Pettitte's handled the Blue Jays fairly well this year also, posting a 2.25 ERA in three starts.

It's a good day to see baseball in New York, as the Mets take the field at Shea this evening against the Nationals. You might see some runs in this one as Matt Chico and Mike Pelfry both hold high ERAs.

The Brewers get a chance to gain on the idle Cubs as they host the Cardinals. The ptiching matchup favor the Cardinals, however, as Wainwright owns an ERA 1.6 runs lower than David Bush.

And on the west coast, the Padres open a series in San Francisco with Chris Young facing Barry Zito. Young hasn't pitched well since returning from the disabled list, but his last two outings showed improvement. Having Young and Peavy hitting on all cylinders gives the Padres a much better chance for post-season success.

As for the massive tie scenario, a Mets loss and a Padres win is probably the best outcome to produce a division/wild card tie. For just a three-way wild card tie, a Padres loss is the best outcome.

Update: I understand Burnett will not start for the Jays this afternoon.

Here's the latest update on Kevin Youkilis and Manny Ramirez. Both work on today's off day, but there's no word on when either will return to the lineup. They've scored 28 runs in the seven games without both going 2-5. They did have a good weekend against Tampa Bay.

I just saw this story on a big drug bust involving coordinated raids across the country.

The Drug Enforcement Administration completed its largest strike against illegal steroids this morning by making the last of 56 raids that netted 120 arrests and took millions of doses of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone off the streets according to online reports.

DEA officials believe the network of suppliers of the illegal drugs originates in China, ABC News reported.

Raids in "Operation Raw Deal" took place in New York City, Houston, Kansas City, Providence and San Diego and confirmed the existence of a network of illegal laboratories and online marketing operations.

Stay tuned.

Update: More at ESPN.com. I found story particularly interesting:

The crackdown, dubbed "Raw Deal," grew out of a 2005 operation targeting eight Mexican labs that were responsible for 80 percent of America's underground steroid trade. Several large Chinese factories had been supplying the Mexican labs. When the Mexican labs were closed in what came to be known as "Operation Gear Grinder," those Chinese factories redirected their pipeline to the U.S.

"We came to find that 99.9 percent of the steroids in the U.S. were coming from China," Simmons said.

Drug agents in Mexico, Belgium, Germany, Denmark and Thailand cooperated in the Raw Deal probe, setting up shell companies to order the raw materials. They also focused on the makers of kits that help underground drugmakers turn raw materials into sellable drugs.

"This wasn't us going after one organization," said Rusty Payne, a DEA spokesman in Washington, D.C. "We went after lots of little cells. There's no one ringleader."

It's an Army of Davids approach to drug dealing. There's no reason to believe with this bust that the pipeline won't redirect the materials somewhere else, even within the United States.

C.C. Sabathia is scheduled to pitch on Tuesday for the Indians. If he wins, that gives him a chance to go for his 20th win on Sunday. But that creates a bit of a problem. If he pitches Sunday, he can't pitch again until Friday, and Friday is an off day in one of the ALDS series. If Cleveland holds on to best record in the AL, it's not a problem. Cleveland takes the extra day off and starts Carmona in game one on six days rest. Then C.C. can pitch game two on Friday and game five if needed on full rest. Or does Cleveland simply skip Sabathia on Sunday and let him open the series on seven days rest? It may come down to how important Sunday is to clinching home field.

Update: Someone in the comments points out that C.C. will start on Friday. That makes sense. Give him the extra rest now, and let him pitch on regular rest for game one.

Soxfan explains why he wants to see Boston play LAnaheim in the first round.

I'm surprised to see a Brewers fan conceding the Central:

A good friend from Faribault has tickets for next weekend's series between the Padres and Brewers at Miller Park. He had hoped to see the Brewers clinch a playoff spot, but now, he'll have to settle for seeing if the Padres can hold their 1/2-game lead for the NL wild-card. The Phillies and Rockies (1 1/2 games back) are making that very interesting. From an e-mail he sent last night:

What a frustrating weekend to be a Brewers fan. I've conceded the Central to the Corporate Cubs, but like I heard someone on Fox say yesterday, I think their best days are yet to come. I don't like the fact that they sort of choked the NL Central in a rare year that both St. Louis and Houston struggled, but from it I think a lot of the young players have learned from being in a division race. Too bad for Geoff Jenkins, after being there for so many bad seasons. It would've been nice for him to make the playoffs while still a Brewer. ... The Milwaukee area has rallied around this team; I hope they weren't a one hit wonder.

These are the Cubs you are chasing! The heartbreak kids! If a team can find a way to blow a 3 1/2 game lead with a week left in the season, surely it's the Cubs.

Aaron Gleeman muses on the probable departure of Torii Hunter from Minnesota:

Seeing his Twins career wind down is sad, but the fact that Hunter turned down a chance to remain in Minnesota makes it a little easier to take. I don't think Hunter handled his pending free agency very well publicly, but I don't blame him one bit for wanting to maximize his earning potential. Still, at the end of the day he's choosing money over remaining with the Twins. Rather than take $45 or maybe even $60 million to stay in Minnesota, he'll likely be getting $75 or $90 million to leave.

That's obviously a huge difference, but if Hunter truly had his heart set on staying with the Twins he could do so while still making a huge amount of money. I'm of the opinion that the difference between $45 or $60 million and $75 or $90 million is a lot smaller than it looks, but a) that's easy for me to say when I'll never come close to making that type of money, and b) I have no idea whether or not Hunter actually wants to stay with the Twins regardless of the money involved.

If he does, then my guess is that he'll regret leaving over money. However, it's very possible that he's simply ready to move on or at least willing to move on enough that he values maximizing his salary over remaining in Minnesota, in which case my only beef is with the way he tried to spin the situation in the media. I'd love to see Hunter return, but committing $75 or $90 million to a 32-year-old center fielder with a .271/.325/.470 career hitting line just isn't something that makes sense of the Twins.

I'm not sure I'd want to sign Hunter to the lower number, either, unless it was three years or less. Torii's strength offensively is his power. If his power goes, there's not a lot there to make up for it. (For example, look at J.D. Drew. His power disappeared this season, but at least he was able to post a .365 OBA, a positive in a bad season.) Is a .270/.330/.400 player worth $15 million a year?

Twins fans got to enjoy the prime of Hunter's career. If he does walk, they won't need to suffer the decline.

Curt Schilling discusses how the 162 game schedule wears down players:

Contrary to some local beliefs, we didn't fold and we didn't screw it up. We made the post season. Not to belittle any of the other major sports, more because I never played hockey or basketball seriously, but I can't imagine a more grinding schedule than the MLB schedule. Not really for pitchers, though I certainly feel a lot different in September than I did in February, but more the position players.

If you get to the dance and play all the way through you pretty much play close to 200 games in about 225 days. Most of those off days are spent traveling or at the park receiving treatment or working on your swing or something. Deion Sanders and Brian Jordan, both All Pro NFL players and damn good major leaguers said that the ML season and the NFL season weren't even close. The MLB schedule was 10 times the grind of the NFL schedule. It's not any one thing, but the fact is, aches, pains and bruises aside, you suit up every single day and compete against the best players in the world once every twenty four hours.

Don't take that as a whine, it's not life or death, but for the guys suiting up every day it has to be incredibly tough physically, to be good.

He also lists his choices for the Sport News Player Choice awards. He makes good picks (you're not allowed to vote for teammates). Here's Curt on Sabathia:

A few guys, along with Josh, certainly had great seasons, but CC's numbers, when you dive into them even a little bit, are awesome. Hopefully he'll begin to get the recognition he aptly deserves as an ace and one of the 3-4 best pitchers in baseball. The little bit I got to know him at the 2002 AS game made me think the world of him. Great kid who has an immense amount of respect for his craft and the sport.

The Angels celebrate 6-4-2's birthday:

Rob later discusses the Angels future:

Something I forgot to mention yesterday: with the victory yesterday, the Mariners have a winning season for the first time in four years. That's an important thing for their franchise, but what it also reminds me is that the 2002 Angels team came out of a division that had an improbable three 90-game winners. The Angels then were better prepared for their postseason run, perhaps; not that this M's squad is a bunch of patsies (or why a split at home?), but when the Angels' nearest competition is just a few games over .500, it doesn't speak well of the division. I suspect the M's will muddle along, though they're starting to get whispers of better prospects coming through their system, albeit at the lower levels. Next year, Oakland will be better, too, at least, that's what I suspect.

But now, and maybe for a few more years, the Angels are the ones to beat in this division. If only Autry could see it.

Finally: there's a sense of magic I'm missing about this, about how lucky and amazing it all is to see a division winner, year after (mostly) year. I don't mean to let this rarity go unnoticed or unremarked upon. Thanks to Arte Moreno, Bill Stoneman, Mike Scioscia, and everyone on the field and off who made this possible.

Gene Autry could have seen this. He had the money and he owned the team at a time when things weren't as crazy. But Autry insisted on bringing in star power instead of developing great players, and most of the stars were on the downside of their careers. His front office never combined intelligent free-agent signings with a good farm system. It turns out winning would have drawn just as well if not better than a team full of fading stars.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Albert Pujols comes off the bench with two men on in the ninth to pinch hit for Eckstein. He gets hold of a Brad Lidge pitch and hits maybe the hardest line drive I've seen since McGwire hit his 62nd home run in 1998. It was too low to go out of the park, but hits the wall in left to bring home a run and put runners at first and third. Houston leads 3-2.

Update: Ankiel triples in the two base runners and the Cardinals win 4-3. A Pujols-Ankiel heart of the order is looking pretty good for 2008.

Bradley about his argument with the umpire after the game (original post here):

Runge said that after Bradley struck out looking to end the fifth, he "flipped the bat about 5-10 feet in front of me."

Bradley said Runge asked him in the eighth if he threw his bat at him.

"I said, 'Are you kidding me? That's ridiculous.' He said, 'Well, it was reported to me by the other umpires that you threw your bat at me.' And I said, 'That's completely ridiculous. I've done a lot of things. I'm trying to turn it around. I would never harm anybody."

Once on first base, Bradley asked Winters if he told Runge he threw his bat. "He goes, 'Yeah, you did.' I go, 'Are you kidding me? That's completely ridiculous. If I strike out and the inning's over, why are you looking at me? Everything's always about me."

Then, a fan heckled Winters.

"I pointed to the guy in the crowd, affirming it," Bradley said.

Bradley said Winters responded with a string of expletives.

"That's when I went at him and he kicked me out," Bradley said.

Crew chief Bruce Froemming wouldn't allow a reporter to speak with Winters.

Maybe someone should ask Todd Helton what happened. The injury was to Bradley's knee.

With Cleveland clinching today and the Chicago Cubs taking a solid lead in the NL Central, I was thinking how much fun it would be for those two teams to meet in the World Series. With the White Sox and Red Sox winning recently, the Cubs and Indians are the longest suffering franchises in baseball. At least one of them would have a burden lifted from the team. Of course, the Padres, Rockies and Brewers never won a World Series, so they would also make a worthy opponent for the Indians, also.

Rematches are also a possibility. The Red Sox and Mets played a dramatic series in 1986, and I bet Boston fans would love to get some revenge on New York. The Yankees were a few outs from defeating the Diamondbacks in 2001 and winning their fourth straight World Series. No doubt the Mets and Padres would like to take a little revenge on the Yankees for 2000 and 1998.

The Angels and Padres gives us an all California World Series, and a good excuse for Fox to start the games at 9 PM, although Mets-Angels would likely be a ratings bonanza, as would the Cubs vs. the Red Sox.

So, which World Series matchup would you most like to see and why?

Update: If the Yankees play the Cubs, maybe A-Rod can call at shot at Wrigley. :-)

They were doing the Tomahawk Chop at the Cubs game today, and in the strangest places:

41,364 fans stood as one and did the Braves' Tomahawk Chop not once, not twice, but three times, as the Braves took the lead over the Brewers with a four-run seventh, then extended it with two in the eighth, and finally, when the 7-4 Atlanta win over Milwaukee was posted on the scoreboard.

I can also report to you, since I took a break to the men's room while Kerry Wood took his extended warmup after Carlos Zambrano left with "cramps" (don't worry, he'll be fine!), that the Chop was being done in the men's room down the LF line.

When I got back I told our group this, and Mike cracked us all up when he said, "With what?"

I'd prefer not to use my imagination on that one. :-)

The Dodgers defeat the Diamondbacks 7-1 to keep all the NL West and Wild Card contenders close. Arizona is now 19-25 in blowouts, games decided by five or more runs. If you look at the box score, you'll notice Melvin didn't use his good relievers. One reason the Diamondbacks have been outscored this year is that Melvin doesn't waste his good relievers when the game gets out of hand.

So the Diamondbacks loss keeps the chance of a massive tie alive. Here's the outcomes that provide a tie with the highest winning percentage:

Team	Record
Rockies	6-0
Phillies	5-1
Padres	5-2
Mets	3-4
Diamondbacks	2-4

Sure, it remains a long shot, but a three way tie for the wild card is looking very good right now.

ESPN reports on a New York Magazine report (I can't find the original on-line) that Boras is working on an ownership deal in the Cubs for Alex Rodriguez:

According to the magazine, Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, has already identified the leading candidate to buy the Cubs and has begun negotiations on a mega-deal. The publication's sources say that the deal could reach $30 million per year over 10 years, with part of the contract deferred toward an eventual stake in the franchise.

I've thought for a long time that a player would eventually become an owner. Alex should think of buying the Cubs outright. If he was smart, he should have at least $100 million invested by now, which is a nice down payment on the franchise. He and Boras could put together a syndicate to raise the rest of the money, and A-Rod could play for what he makes off the franchise. And then he has this great money maker for the rest of his life.

Of course, this would be tampering if true, as the Yankees point out:

"It's a silly story, and we don't believe it," he told ESPN.com's Buster Olney on Sunday evening. "However, if it was true, it would be grounds to disqualify the applicant even before he went through the process, because it would demonstrate a disregard for major league rules and procedures, and we're confident the commissioner would feel the same way."

Levine later said he spoke to Bud Selig, and the commissioner agreed with Levine's interpretation of the story, and its possible implications. A player can neither have part ownership of a team nor negotiate for future ownership.

So I doubt it would go down the way described here. But I wouldn't be surprised if A-Rod tried to buy a franchise at some point.

Chin-Lung Hu just picked up his first single, prompting Vin Scully to joyfully report, "I can finally say Hu's on first!"

Update: Hu scored.

The Rockies set a franchise record with their 84th win as they defeat the Padres 7-3. Jeff Francis gets the win, his 17th, tying a franchise record. They've won 8 in a row, and in sweeping the Padres are just 1 1/2 games out of the wild card lead. In addition, they win the season series 10-8 against San Diego, giving Colorado the tie-breaker if the two teams end up tied for the division and the wild card.

Colorado has now outscored their opponents by 82 runs this year, the best in the NL. I don't know if they'll make the playoffs, but they sure deserve a spot.

The Angels sent the fans home happy today as they defeat the Mariners 7-4, clinching the AL West title. They get an excellent game from John Lackey who allows just two runs over seven innings, lowering his ERA to 3.11 and picking up his 18th win. One thing I like about the Angels offense this season is that they are walking more. With five today they have 489 on the season; if they get to 495 it will be the second highest total in the Scioscia era.

Congratulations to the Angels on their return to the playoffs! They're a dangerous team, with great front line pitching, a stellar bullpen and a huge offensive threat in Vlad Guerrero.

You know it has to happen sooner or later. Milton Bradley is at first, and he's jawing with the umpire. Instead of ignoring Milton, the ump answers him. Bradley goes after the ump, but the first base coach, Meacham, stops him. Meacham then takes up the argument, but Bradley goes after the ump again. This time, Bud Black grabs Milton, wrestles him to the ground, and injures what appears to be a hamstring. So the Padres are now down two starting outfielders, as Cameron bruised his thumb earlier and is day to day.

Earlier, Bradley was complaining about the first base ump to the home plate ump. But no one knows why. Maybe he was called for a check swing?

Update: Bud Black gets thrown out, too. He yells at the third base ump after the ump calls a check swing strike on Adrian Gonzalez. That tells me a check swing call was probably bothering Milton. Of course, now he may be out for the rest of the season, so good job, MB, hurting your team because you can't hold your temper.

The Rockies chase Greg Maddux after 3 2/3 innings picking up eight hits and two walks (!) against the ancient one. Colorado leads 5-1 going to the bottom of the fifth as they have a chance to gain on both Philadelphia and San Diego in the wild card race.

Update: Atkins hits an inside-the-park home run as Mike Cameron collides with Milton Bradley in center. Cameron looks like he's hurt. He's coming out of the game. The Rockies lead 6-1 in the top of the seventh.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers have taken a 3-1 lead on Arizona. Ethier and LaRoche each drove in a run in the inning.

I thought Chamberlain would get the one batter in the eighth and then leave the game, but he pitched the ninth as well, striking out two more batters and picking up his first save. And it was a real save as he came in with two men on and got four outs.

Even more importantly, Mike Mussina pitched well again. He lasted seven innings, using 97 pitches and allowing three runs. The Yankees, with their offense, will win a lot of games with starts like that.

New York can clinch a playoff spot tomorrow with an afternoon win over the Blue Jays and an evening loss by Detroit.

The Cubs may end up being the first team in the NL to clinch as they extend their lead to 3 1/2 games with an 8-0 drubbing of the Pirates. Zambrano picked up a short shutout as he struck out six batters through six innings. The bullpen did not give up a hit, and Lee and Cedeno each drove in three runs. The Cubs scored 30 runs in their last three games.

Meanwhile, the Brewers fell to the Braves 7-4. Chicago's magic number is down to four with six games to play. Milwaukee is also going to face San Diego in their last series, and the way the NL Wild Card/West race is going, the Padres are going to be playing for their post-season life. It's looking very good for Chicago right now.

Dan Uggla leads off the ninth inning with a home run off Billy Wagner, tying the Mets at six. That's the sixth home run allowed by Wagner and his fifth blown save of the season. He strikes out Jacobs with two out, but it's a wild pitch and Jacobs gains first base as the potential winning run.

Update:Wright drives in Reyes in the top of the 11th and the Mets win 7-6. That gives New York a 2 1/2 game lead and their magic number is down to five.

The Red Sox lose 5-4 to the Devil Rays. Tampa Bay both out-hit and out-walked the Red Sox today, putting 15 batters on base to the Red Sox 9. The Yankees are up 7-5 in the eighth, so if they hold on the Red Sox lead will be down to 1 1/2. Earlier during the Yankees broadcast, they reported that Torre said getting his team ready for the playoffs was more important than winning the east.

Joba Chamberlain comes on in the eighth with two on and two out, breaking the Joba rules.

Update: Joba strikes out Lind swinging, and the Yankees are three outs away from reducing their playoff magic number to two.

The LAnaheim Angels get off to an early 3-0 lead as Kotchman and Iztuis homer off Jeff Weaver in the bottom of the second. It looks like Jeff will finish the season with an ERA over 6.00.

Claudio Vargas fails to hold down the Braves in the bottom of the seventh, allowing four runs (with an assist from Ray King) and Atlanta takes a 5-4 lead. The Cubs are up 6-0, so Milwaukee can ill afford to lose this game. Vargas has given up a lot of hits this season, but he was able to limit them with runners in scoring position, but not today. He picked a bad day to regress to the mean.

With a 6-2 lead in the top of the ninth, the Indians are three outs away to returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2001. Betancourt is on to nail down the win.

Update: Cust strikes out looking on a pitch that looked out of the strike zone. One out.

Update: Piazza pops out to second. It's up to Ellis.

Update: Ellis strikes out swinging, and the Indians are champions of the AL Central. They've been rebuilding for a while, with a target date of 2006 for returning to the playoffs. They missed that by a year, but with a great offense and top notch front line pitching, Cleveland gets a chance to break their 59-year World Championship drought. Congratulations to the Indians on winning the AL Central!

The Nationals end their time at RFK with a win, defeating the Phillies 5-3. Philadelphia scored one in the ninth and put the tying run on base, but Cordero struck out Werth to end the game. That puts the Nationals record in their three seasons at the old ballpark at 121-120, not bad for a team that's played poorly since the middle of 2005. We'll see if a better team goes in a new ballpark.

The Phillies won't gain the wild card lead today. The Mets are losing 3-2 in the eighth, so they may not lose ground in the East. Still, the Mets magic number is down to six.

Update: The Mets score four in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Alou and a three-run homer by Delgado. Carlos has hit four home runs in seven September games.

Robinson Cano singles home Bobby Abreu in the bottom of the fifth to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead over Toronto. At the same time, the Red Sox cut the Devil Rays lead to 4-3 in the top of the sixth, picking up a base at a time. The Red Sox have the bases loaded with one out and have scored on an infield hit by Ortiz, a walk to Drew and a single by Crisp.

Update: Switzer comes in and gets Hinske to ground into a double play to end the Red Sox threat.

Update: The Yankees get two more runs as the 8 & 9 hitters, Mientkiewicz & Molina each pick up an RBI single. They're a combined 3 for 5 with 3 RBI this afternoon.

Paul Lo Duca puts the Mets into a 2-2 tie with the Marlins as he goes deep of Seddon in the fourth. It's Lo Duca's fourth home run of September after not hitting any in July and August.

Carlos Zambrano is off to a good start, striking out the first four Pirates he faces. Nady gets a single to break up the streak and then steals second. No score in Chicago yet.

Ryan Braun launches his thirty second home run of the season to move the Brewers ahead of the Braves 2-1. He now has 87 RBI and 82 runs scored in 106 games. That's what happens when you do a good job of getting on base and hitting for power.

Dan Uggla puts his 48th double of the season between two singles, and the Marlins lead the Mets 2-0 in the fourth. That ties Uggla with Matt Holliday for the NL lead in two baggers. The Phillies, Marlins and Padres fill slots 2 through eight on the list.

Update: The Phillies take the lead in the top of the sixth, on two errors by the Nationals. Hamels leaves the game for a pinch hitter in line to get the win. The Phillies allowed him to throw 76 pitches. Cole allowed two hits and two walks while striking out six.

Update: Hamels won't win as the Philadelphia reliever allow five of the first six Nationals batters to reach base. Two score, and the bases are loaded with one out in the bottom of the sixth.

The Cleveland Indians are off to a 2-0 lead as they try to clinch the AL Central. Westbrook has faced just nine batters through three innings as a hit and walk were both followed by double plays. With 20 DPs induced this season, Westbrook is in the top twelve in the AL. Fausto Carmona is tied with Wang for the league lead with 32, and Sabathia is 9th with 21.

Update: Detroit isn't giving them any help as the Tigers lead the Royals 4-1 in the second.

Cole Hamels reaches base for the second time this game, and this time it costs Hanrahan a run. His 103rd pitch with two out in the fifth ended up a single off Pat Burrell's bat, tying the game at one.

The Big Oz is a new blog covering the Florida Marlins. Check out the pictures from Friday night's Mets game.

The Red Sox held a quiet celebration yesterday.

Manager Terry Francona spoke about how proud he was of his Red Sox team, and the only other speaker was veteran reliever Mike Timlin, who seemed, in a few words, to epitomize the mood and the circumstance.

"I told them not to relax," Timlin said. "I want to win the division. A lot of guys have been here before and we don't want to get too excited. We wanted to recognize what we had accomplished but to make sure we all knew and all understood we had our eye on bigger things. This was just the first step."

That's good. They still have their eyes on the prize of home field advantage throughout the playoffs and the chance to pick their schedule in the first round.

Joel Hanrahan retires the first eight Phillies he faced, then gives up a hit to Cole Hamels. Jimmy Rollins follows with a single, putting the tying run at second base as the Nationals lead 1-0.

Update: Utley strikes out to end the inning. Joel struck out four through three innings.

The Police destroyed the Wrigley outfield, leaving the area dangerous for fielders:

"There's nothing you can do since they had that - what do you call it? - concert. Since they had the concert, it's been a little rough out there," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said yesterday.

The outfield grass was beaten down when two Police concerts were held in early July at the second-oldest ballpark in the majors.

"I'm surprised more people don't get injured out there. It's as bad as there is," Cincinnati Reds left fielder Adam Dunn said. "It's worse than playing in a parking lot. It looks like they had a monster truck rally. It's terrible. There's potholes. It's bad. It's unsafe."

I'm really surprised the Cubs haven't fixed things. They could at least resod the potholes, unless there are so many of them that they have to dig up the whole field. Keep your eye on this during the playoffs. It might work out to be an advantage for the Cubs:

The Cubs have a $136 million investment in left field, Alfonso Soriano, who has spent time on the disabled list with a quadriceps injury. Soriano said the field is not dangerous, just tricky.

"It's not comfortable," Soriano said yesterday. "There are like a lot of little holes, you know what I mean? Sometimes when they hit a ground ball, you have to be careful."

With the Cubs outfielders used to the dips, they might take better routes to balls than visitors.

Melissa at Athletic Supporters voices her displeasure with the progress of Dan Johnson:

My gut tells me that there is no place for Johnson on the A's next season. Johnson is one of the hardest hitters to watch because he seemingly always does the same thing (pull the ball to the right side). If you take a look at his hitting chart on MLB.com, it appears that Johnson almost always hits groundballs to the right side, but that when he gets the ball in the air, he does have a tendency to spray it a bit more. Still, there is a lot of red around the second baseman on Johnson's hit chart, which somewhat confirms my gut's suspicions.

However, my head recognizes that there are a number of good aspects to Johnson's game, as well. He has a good eye at the plate, takes his walks and while he has his share of strikeouts, he is nowhere near the level of a Jack Cust or a Nick Swisher. He is a decent first baseman, and while he doesn't have much range, he stretches well and generally catches everything that comes to him. And he certainly has one of the better power swings of any player on the A's. Projected over 600 at-bats, Johnson would be on-pace to hit 27 homeruns this year, a very nice total for a team that doesn't have much homerun power to speak of. Certainly, I think most people would be surprised if Travis Buck or Daric Barton reached those homerun totals next season.

And yet, despite those good attributes, I still don't see a place for Johnson on next year's team. Maybe it is Bobby Crosby fatigue. Like Crosby, we have watched Johnson play over the last few years and he has seemingly made no adjustments or improvements. Whatever good aspects there are of both players' games, you are always left with the sense that they could be so much better.

Both players are seasonal age 27 this season. Both had their best years at age 25, then regressed and haven't bounced back. Johnson suffered eye problems in 2006, but getting those fixed didn't seem to make much of a difference. Crosby, too has suffered a number of injuries the past few seasons.

But that doesn't explain the lack of adjustments. It's almost as if the A's don't have a hitting coach. You would think with all the data processing Oakland uses, they could point out these things to players.

The Nationals bid farewell to RFK Stadium today as they play at a very early start time, 12:05 PM. Cole Hamels faces Joel Hanrahan. The two squared off on August 16th, with Hamels walking away with a 4-2 victory. Still working his way back from an injury, Hamels will be on a 70 pitch count limit. The Nationals may want to take a lot early to drive him from the game. In case you're wondering, Alfonso Soriano holds the record for most home runs as a Nationals player at RFK. Zimmerman needs a big day to catch him.

A Cleveland win or a Detroit loss puts the Indians in the post season. Both games start a 1:05, so there will be some scoreboard watching going on. It's the Indians last home game of the regular season, so it's their last chance to clinch in front of the home town fans. Jake Westbrook gets the start for the Indians. He was a big part of the Indians hot streak that led to their big lead, but he's reverted a big lately.

Milwuakee can't afford to lose many more games as they send Chris Capuano against the Braves. Capuano hasn't won since May, and this is first start in over a month. Capuano was a steady performer on the mound for the Brewers the previous two seasons. His problems coupled with Sheets injury really hurt the Brewers chances of making the playoffs.

John Maine faces Florida this afternoon. He looked like a Cy Young candidate at the All-Star break, but his ERA balloon by more than a run since then. He did not allow six runs or more in a game before the break, but has done that six times since.

The Cubs task is simple right now, keep winning. They send Carlos Zambrano against Tom Gorzelanny this afternoon. Tom's pitched well against Chicago this year, holding them to two runs in fourteen innings pitched. Somehow, he managed to lose one of those games. Zambrano's shown poor control all season, and he's walked ten Pirates in nineteen innings of work. Given that the Pirates have drawn the fewest walks in the National League, that's quite an accomplishment.

The Angels get their last chance to clinch the AL West at home as they host the Mariners for the final regular season game in Anaheim. Ace John Lackey tries to nail down the division. Lackey is one of a large group of pitchers at the top of the AL ERA race. A complete game shutout would put him in the ERA lead and give him a leg up in the Cy Young race.

The Rockies rotation trots out their best today as they try to win their eighth game in a row and gain on the Padres in the NL Wild Card race. Jeff Francis faces future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux. The Padres pounded Jeff this season, however, hanging an 8.10 ERA on him in four starts. He's allowed five homers and twenty one runs in 23 1/3 innings of work. Maddux pitched well against Colorado, allowing just a 3.30 ERA, although he's lost two of his five starts. He's walked just two Rockies all season.

Finally, Chad Billingsley tries to play spoiler as he takes on the Diamondbacks and Edgar Gonzalez. Gonzalez may be the luckiest pitchers ever to by 8-2. He's not that good, and his team doesn't score very much when he's on the mound, but I guess he gets the runs at the right time. Billingsley can solidify a season in which he showed solid improvement. He's pitched 50 more innings than in 2006, but his one shy of the number of walks he issued last season.

Enjoy!

The Diamondbacks and Rockies won last night, defeating the Dodgers and the Padres respectively, both by a score of 6-2. The Diamondbacks showed last night why they are a force to be reckoned with in close games. Webb pitched decently through 6 1/3 innings, but Arizona then brought in their four best relievers, Slaten, Pena, Lyon and Valverde. The quartet did not allow a hit or walk the rest of the way, with one batter reaching via an error. The four have combined for a 2.74 ERA this season. The win also eliminates the Dodgers from a shot at the NL West title.

The Rockies bullpen needed to do more work, but performed almost as well. Faced with 14 outs to record, the Padres managed just one hit and one walk off the Colorado relievers. On the offensive side, Hawpe collected four hits and drove in two. The Rockies picked up eleven singles, with Hawpe's double the only extra-base hit for the team in the game. The Rockies have outscored their opponents 48-21 in the seven game streak, with eight runs allowed coming in one game.

Yesterday's results were both good and bad for the massive tie scenario. As Arizona keeps winning, the Mets become a better choice for the division tie, and we still have a shot at a three way wild card tie. Here's the best winning percentage scenario for a five-way tie:

Team	Record
Rockies	7-0
Phillies	5-2
Padres	5-3
Mets	4-4
Diamondbacks	2-5

The Rockies finish with three games against Arizona, so the Dodgers and Pirates are going to need to win a game each against the Diamondbacks to even make this possible.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Rockies chase Padres starter Jack Cassel after 2 1/3 innings. He leaves with San Diego down 2-0, but Justin Hampson gives up a hit to Hawpe to score one of the two runners he inherited. Colorado is still batting in the bottom of the third up 3-0.

The Tampa Bay bullpen is very dependable; for the opponents. Varitek and Lugo homer off Al Reyes in the ninth, plating three runs and moving the Red Sox ahead of Tampa Bay 8-6. With Detroit losing, the Red Sox can become the first team to clinch a post-season berth if they can hold this lead.

The Tigers loss allows the Indians to clinch a tie for the AL Central. Cleveland loses as well, so they get a chance to clinch outright tomorrow.

Update: Papelbon comes on to get the save, and the Red Sox are going to the post season. They also take a game off their magic number to clinch the east, dropping that to six. And with Cleveland and LAnaheim losing, the Red Sox are back in the lead for best record in the AL.

Congratulations to Boston on getting back to the playoffs. They put together a great team, and despite the trials of the last month, they're now in a great position to prepare the team for October.

The Phillies score for the second time tonight. Ryan Howard singles home the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth, giving Philadelphia a 2-1 lead. Don't look for another score until the 19th. :-)

Chris Young leads off the bottom of the first for Arizona with a home run, his thirty second of the season. That gives him a .241 BA for the season and a .483 slugging percentage. Slug/BA = average bases per hit, meaning that Young's average hit this season is a double. Now, he just needs to work on getting hits more often. The Diamondbacks lead the Dodgers 2-0 after one.

The Red Sox gave Daisuke Matsuzaka a week off, and he responded with seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. But he walked the last two batters he faced, bringing in Javier Lopez to face Calos Pena. Carlos hit a home run earlier in the game, and this time takes a 3-2 count deep for a three-run homer and a 6-5 Devil Rays lead. With Detroit losing, the Red Sox had a chance to clinch a playoff spot tonight, but if these scored hold up they'll need to wait another day.

Pena is now slugging .610 on the season with 116 RBI. It took awhile, but this season he finally lived up to his potential.

Chase Utley hit a solo home run in the first tonight, the only run in the Phillies-Nationals game until the bottom of the sixth, when a Chase Utley error allows an unearned run to score. The Phillies, who need a win to keep pace with the Mets and potentially gain in the wild card race, are tied with the Nationals in the top of the seventh.

The Mariners squeak by the Angels 3-2 this afternoon, keeping hope alive in the AL West. Putz gave the Angels a chance in the bottom of the ninth as two men reached base, but he induced Guerrero to ground out and then struck out Anderson, only allowing one run. The Angels clinching party will wait for another day.

The good news for the Angels in the game is that Bartolo Colon pitched well. He managed eight innings of work, throwing just 90 pitches, 67 for strikes. That's a huge improvement over his first start back from injury, and a healthy Colon makes that rotation even more flexible.

For the third time in four innings, Melky Cabrera comes up with a big hit. With men on 2nd and 3rd and two out in the tenth, Cabrera singles to win the game for New York. He finishes the game 3 for 7 with five RBI as the Yankees take another step toward the playoffs with a 12-11, ten inning win over the Blue Jays.

Oliver Perez pitched eight strong innings, walking none and striking out eight as the Mets defeat the Marlins 7-2. It was nice to see Perez get his control back. Over his previous seven starts he allowed 6.7 walks per nine. It didn't seem to hurt him much as he posted a 3.79 ERA and a 4-1 record. But those kind of walk numbers are a time bomb waiting to happen.

Gallardo and Smoltz each pitch excellent games as starters, and the bullpens are holding each of the offenses scoreless as the Brewers and Braves go to the tenth inning tied at two. Neither pen has allowed a hit yet.

Update: It's a good day for Har home runs as Corey Hart goes deep in the tenth to put the Brewers up 3-2 as they try to keep pace with the Cubs. Hart's upped his slugging percentage about 70 points from a year ago.

Update: Thorman homers with two out in the bottom of the tenth off Cordero to tie the game at three. They'll play at least another innng.

Update: A Weeks error leads to Mark Teixeira singling in the winning run in the bottom of the eleventh as the Braves take the game 4-3. That drops Milwaukee 2 1/2 back in the NL Central and reduces the Cubs magic number to six. Weeks has really cut down on his error this season. That was his 13th at second base compared to 22 last year.

The Toronto Blue Jays follow a four-run Yankees sixth with a five-run seventh inning. Two wild pitches, a passed ball and an advance on throw kept the Blue Jays advancing around the bases. A pair of Toronto doubles among their four hits helped too.

Melky Cabrera singles in two in the bottom of the inning, however, and the teams are knotted at eight.

Update: Alex Rodriguez picks up his third RBI of the game, knocking in Cabrera with a single to put the Yankees back in the lead 9-8.

Update: Four of the first five hitters reach against Farnsworth in the top of the eighth, and Toronto takes back the lead 10-9.

Update: For the second inning in a row, Melky Cabrera singles in two runs and the teams are tied at eleven going to the ninth.

The Brewers tie the Braves in the sixth inning on a home run by J.J. Hardy. It breaks up a no-hitter by John Smoltz, who has walked three in the game. Smoltz is having a remarkable season, not only for a forty year old but for any age. He cut down on his home runs and walks this year, although both of those categories hurt him today.

Alex Rodriguez set a new career high in RBI last night with his 143rd of the season, and he extends that with two more today. He's also scored two runs to bring that total to bring his run total to 137, four away from his career high in that category. He'll need a good final week of the season to reach 300 runs + RBI. His home run outage hasn't helped.

The Yankees lead Toronto 6-3 in the sixth. Matsui has three hits, including a triple and three RBI.

Be sure to check out my posts at AT&T Blue Room. Click on sports, then buzz. My latest looks at how ballparks color our perceptions of players.

Javier Vazquez defeated the Minnesota Twins today, striking out eleven over seven innings while walking just two. The two runs scored against him came on an home run by Kubel. It was a fairly typical game for the Scrabble champ; lots of strikeouts, few walks and a home run. He breaks the 200 strikeout level for the third time in his career, but the reason for his success is that he's shaved 17 points off his batting average allowed over 2006. His ERA is a bit higher than Buehrle's, but his season is just as impressive. Most teams could make a run at the playoffs with a 1-2 combination like that.

The Cubs big three power hitters launched four home runs today as Chicago defeats Pittsburgh 9-5 to temporarily extend their NL Central lead to two games. Soriano hit two home runs and a double to drive in five runs and raise his slugging percentage to .553. Lee homered and went four for five to raise his batting average to .317. Ramirez hit his third home run in two days, bring his RBI total to 100. The Brewers and Braves are about to get underway in Atlanta.

The Cubs and Pirates are tied at three after two innings, in what looks like another high scoring game. Soriano just went deep to tie the game, his thirtieth home run of the season. Due to his batting leadoff, 21 of his 30 have been solo shots, and with 61 RBI, he's driven himself in almost half the time. I know he likes to bat leadoff, but his numbers would be so much more productive lower in the order.

Except for Arizona winning, it was a good night for the massive tie scenario. In a fourteen inning pitching duel, Colorado defeated the Padres 2-1. Adrian Gonzalez hit the first pitch from Corpas in the bottom of the ninth for a home run to tie the game, then Hawpe hit the game winner in the top of the fourteenth. The teams combined for just twelve hits.

Here's the highest winning percentage outcome that ends in a tie:

Team	Record
Rockies	8-0
Phillies	6-2
Mets	5-4
Padres	5-4
Diamondbacks	3-5

As the Diamondbacks keep winning, the Rockies/Phillies/Mets/Padres tie becomes more plausable. The Cubs and Brewers both won, keeping that race close but with Chicago still in control. The Red Sox and Indians won while the Angels lost, meaning no team has clinched more than a tie, but now Cleveland controls best record in the division, with Boston sitting on the second seed.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

We've been out celebrating with my friend Jim Storer and his lovely wife Linda on their anniversary. We went to see Blue Man Group, where we got to wear these cool tissue paper head bands:

I hear Barry Bonds won't be returning to the Giants. Tim Kawakami sums up the reasons the Giants parted ways with Barry:

The Giants are still angry he held them up for ransom last year. Ridiculous action by Bonds. Hope he's happy with the $16M he got this year, but it cost him any shot at 2008.

(Plus the angry reaction from fans after the Giants caved to him last year shocked the heck out of management and told them that the Bonds love affair is over. That's why they signed Barry Zito, and that's a whole other problem.)

Will any team pick him up? Bonds is old, he's not playing much, but he's still very good when he does play. Would an AL team be willing to take him on as a DH? Or will 762 be his final home run total? I'm guessing the latter.

It strikes me that the Yankees took a page out of the Athletics playbook this season. In 2006, the A's were 45-43 at the All-Star break and ended up winning 93 games. The Yankees were 43-43 at the All-Star break this season, and will likely get close to 93 wins. Cashman made some tweaks to the team at the trading deadline without tearing apart the core, and boom, the Yankees are nearly playoff bound. Beane gets a lot of praise for making these kinds of moves. It's nice to see Cashman doing the same thing. He's taken a lot of flak for Pavano and Igawa, but this sure was a nice recovery.

The Pirates and Cubs meet in the only afternoon game of the day as Chicago tries to solidify its lead in the NL Central. Jason Marquis goes for his thirteenth win as he caps a nice turnaround season. He's cut his home runs allowed from 35 in 2006 to 22 this year.

Fausto Carmona leads the AL in ERA, but only 0.09 runs separate first from fifth in one of the tightest races ever. A great game and an eighteenth win helps Fausto move toward a Cy Young award and helps Cleveland in the race to clinch the division and gain best record in the league. They trail LAnaheim by 1/2 game in the latter. Carmona faces Joe Blanton, whose ERA jumps two runs on the road.

Roy Halladay visits Chien-Ming Wang as the Blue Jays and Yankees battle. Halladay and Wang own identical ERAs and losses, but Wang leads in the win column 18-15. Toronto is without Vernon Wells, whom they shut down to have surgery on his shoulder.

The Brewers draw a tough assignment this evening as the Braves send Tim Hudson to the mound. Tim brought his home runs allowed back to his 2004 level, and he's having his most successful season with the Braves. Carlos Villanueva opposes Tim, and Villanueva's move to the rotation resulted in a 1.57 ERA as a starter.

The matchup doesn't favor the Phillies as Adam Eaton takes on Shawn Hill. The Phillies offense, best in the NL and second in the majors will need to find a lot of runs to support a starter again tonight.

The Mets, however, get to send Pedro Martinez against the Marlins. Pedro struck out 13 and walked one in his last eleven innings. Sounds like the Pedro of yesteryear to me.

Scott Kazmir pretty much owns the Red Sox. He's pitched five short shutouts against Boston in his career, the latest a 1-0 win over Schilling on 9/10/2007. He'll get a tough assignment again tonight as he faces Josh Beckett. The Red Sox ace's great control may make him the majors first twenty game winner tonight.

The reeling Dodgers are reduced to playing spoilers and they'll send Esteban Loaiza against Livan Hernandez in Arizona. Expect some runs in that game.

Meanwhile, the Rockies need to sweep the Padres, but they draw Jake Peavy in game one. Jake's had his problems with the Rockies over the years, even at home. Franklin Morales draws the assignment for Colorado. In his three road starts, he's posted a 1.76 ERA.

Enjoy!

J.R. Towles made a strong bid to become Houston's starting catcher next season. He set a franchise record in his sixth major league game:

Towles set the franchise record with eight RBIs to help Wandy Rodriguez and the Astros rout the St. Louis Cardinals 18-1 at Busch Stadium.

"I can't even describe it," Towles said after going 4-for-4 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, a single, two doubles and a two-run homer to break the previous record of seven RBIs in a game. "This is the last thing I thought would happen. Coming up to the big leagues was pretty impressive. This is beyond words, I think, right now."

He's posted very good OBAs in the minors, but spent two full years in A-Ball, although it looks like he was hurt in 2005 as he only played 45 games. He's five for five with runners in scoring position, which might make him the greatest clutch hitter of all time!

The game was so lopsided that Aaron Miles made his second relief appearance of the season and his career. Even though he allowed two runs in his inning of work, he was the best pitcher for the Cardinals last night. St. Louis certainly went from contenders to pathetic very quickly.

Thursday's results were pretty good for the massive tie scenario. Three of the trailing teams won, and the Mets lost. Here's the updated best winning percentage scenario:

Team	Record
Rockies	9-0
Phillies	7-2
Mets	6-4
Padres	5-5
Diamondbacks	4-5

The Rockies, Phillies, Mets and Padres all tying leads to a three-day playoff as well. And a reader points out the following:

Team	Record
Braves	9-0
Phillies	6-3
Mets	5-5

Under the above, the three Phillies losses come against the Braves. I'd rather see a two way tie in the NL Central, so I'll root for the Brewers to beat the Braves. To bring the teams closer to the big tie, look for the following results:

• Pittsburgh defeats Chicago
• Milwaukee defeats Atlanta
• Philadelphia defeats Washington
• Either Florida or New York win, although a Florida win gets us closer in the East
• Colorado defeats San Diego
• Los Angeles defeats Arizona

The Angels put themselves in a position to be the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a 9-5 win over the Mariners last night. Jered Weaver put in a lackluster performance, but Scot Shields appears to be back in the groove. He pitched two perfect innings, striking out three. And although his ERA in the second half is 7.52, Scot pitched well over his last seven appearances. The strikeouts and walks are especially good.

Seattle did do a little head hunting last night, and I like the way Vlad responded the first time he got knocked down:

Guerrero hit the deck on a Campillo pitch in the fourth inning, then dug in and hit a two-run homer off the right-hander, standing at home plate and watching as the ball cleared the fence.

In the sixth, Campillo threw at Vlad again, leading to the benches clearing the Campillo getting ejected from the game. I'm guessing he won't be playing for a while, per the commissioner's office.

Joe Saunders gets the chance to clinch the division tonight.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Mets don't score in the top of the tenth, then Hanley Ramirez leads off the bottom of the inning with an infield single. It's his 200th hit of the season.

Update: The Marlins win Uggla as Dan scrapes the wall in left to double in Hanley from first. Dan gets four hits on the night, including two doubles to give him 46 on the year. The Phillies are just 1 1/2 games out again.

The Milwaukee Brewers lose 3-1 to the Braves. The Brewers offense was flat as Bennett made an impressive return and the Braves bullpen threw 3 1/3 hitless innings.

But the big news is that Cubs appear to have made up a loss. The two top NL Central teams were tied in the AFILC this morning, but now the the Brewers appear to have one more loss that the Cubs! I'm going to have to study this further, but this seems to be proof that you can make up the losses!

The Mets are down 4-3 in the top of the ninth. Lo Duca doubles to lead off the inning, and Gomez pinch runs. It's the ninth double of the game, both teams combined. The Marlins have outhit the Mets 15-7, but lead by just one run.

Gomez goes to third on a grounder to short. Ramirez throw there two late and the Mets have runners on 1st and 3rd. I've seen runners try that play a few times this week and fail, but I remember in The Hidden Game of Baseball, that play doesn't need to be successful very often to make it worthwhile. The failure to get the out at third really increases the run potential of the offense. Of course, not making it down one run in the ninth is a poor play.

Green walks to load the bases.

Update: Rollins doubles in the go-ahead run in the Phillies game. That makes winning this one all the more important for the Mets. Gregg, however, strikes out Reyes for the first out, the third time Reyes struck out tonight.

Update: Marlon Anderson drives a 3-2 pitch to the wall in right for a bases clearing triple. The Mets lead 6-4.

Update: They changed the scoring on Anderson's hit to a double. Beltran drove him home and the Mets took a 7-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth. They're not using Wagner, and the Marlins have scored once and have a runner at third with one out.

Update: David Wright makes a great diving stop on a Jacobs grounder, then throws the ball away. It's back to a one-run game, and instead of two outs and the bases empty, the Marlins have a runner at first with one out.

Update: Cody Ross drops one just inside the foul line in left, putting runners on second and third with one out. What a great game!

Update: Right after the Phillies win 7-6, Matt Treanor gets the bat on the ball and rolls a high bouncer to short. That gives the run time to score and puts a runner at third with two outs. Wood pinch hits with the winning run 90 feet away.

Update: Wood pops up to end the inning. They'll go to extra frames in Florida.

The Phillies couldn't do much against Jason Bergman, scoring just two in the first inning on a Howard home run, then putting up nothing but zeros for five innings. Meanwhile, the Nationals managed six runs off Lohse. But Bergman didn't come out for the seventh, and Philadelphia takes advantage of two relievers to score four runs and tie the game at six. They're still batting with two on and one out. The Phillies bullpen pitched four innings, allowing one hit, to give the offense a chance to come back.

Jeff Bennett pitched in relief for the Brewers in 2004, and he didn't pitch that well. He allowed twelve home runs in 71 1/3 innings, all in relief, posting a 4.79 ERA. In February of 2006, Jeff received a new elbow as he underwent Tommy John surgery. Tonight, he's facing his old team as a starter for the Braves and the new elbow looks good. He's gone five innings so far, striking out eight with no walks. His only mistake was a home run to Weeks as the Braves lead 3-1 in the fifth. The Brewers need to make up a win this evening, and so far their former player is making that very difficult.

Dontrelle Willis hits both Milledge and Wright with similar pitches, fastballs way down and inside. Both were hit about ankle high. It works out well for New York as Alou doubles in two and the Mets are up 2-0 in the second.

The Dodgers fall 9-4 to the Rockies, as Colorado keeps their playoff hopes alive with a four game sweep. They outscore Los Angeles 27-18 in the series, sending the Dodgers to the brink of elimination. The Rockies travel to San Diego for three games against the Padres, a team they trail by 4 1/2 games for the wild card.

Dodger fans, do you think anyone deserves to get fired for the performance of this teams, or was it just too many injuries?

The Padres keep winning as they complete a sweep of the Pirates by a score of 6-3. Brett Tomko keeps showing great control as he goes six innings, striking out six and walking none. That's seventeen Ks and one walk for Tomko in seventeen innings with San Diego.

Kevin Kouzmanoff continued his good hitting in the second half. He went 2 for 3 this afternoon with a double, and is now batting .317 since the break after hitting .228 in the first half.

It does appear that PETCO hides the power of the left side of the Padres infield. If you look at the road stats this year, Greene and Kouzmanoff are both slugging over .500.

Ed Wade is the new GM in Houston:

Former Phillies general manager Ed Wade is the new Astros' GM.

Wade, after meeting this morning with Astros owner Drayton McLane and other team executives, will be introduced as GM at a news conference this afternoon.
Ruben Amaro Jr., the Phillies' current assistant GM, was the other finalist for the position, but the Astros opted for the more experienced candidate. Wade was the Phillies' GM from December 1997 through October 2005.

The Phillies drafted several of their present stars under Wade's watch, including first baseman Ryan Howard, second baseman Chase Utley, left-hander Cole Hamels and right-hander Brett Myers.

I guess nobody good wanted the job. :-)

Actually, I was never sure how to judge Wade. Here are some thoughts from July of 2004:

Wade put a good team on the field. What I see when I read boxscores and listen to comments by readers is that Bowa does not make moves that increase the probability of the Phillies winning games. Bowa should be the first to go. Wade appears to me to be a weak general manager (a strong one would have found a way to keep Rolen in Philadelphia), but that may be built into the job. I don't know if Wade has the ultimate authority to hire or fire Bowa or if that resides in the owner. I have a feeling Ed Wade is caught between a rock and a hard place in Philadelphia, and is doing the best he can to survive and win.

And here were my thoughts when he was finally fired at the end of 2005:

I thought Wade made some good moves early in his tenure, but the Scott Rolen debacle soured me on the man. In a way, hiring Larry Bowa led to Wade's downfall, as that appeared to be a big reason Rolen wanted to leave, and Bowa's inevitable firing made Ed unpopular.

My guess is Wade will draft better than Pupura, but I don't know if McLane has that kind of patience to see a winner on the field.

Zack Greinke puts together eight stellar innings as the Royals defeat the White Sox 3-0. He allows just two hits, one a double while walking none and striking out ten. He threw nearly 75% of his pitches for strikes. Since the All-Star break, Greinke's allowed 11 earned runs in 47 innings, a 2.11 ERA. It's been a two-year journey from depression and back, but today's game shows that his work has paid off. It looks like the Royals have found a solid starter.

Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe strike again as they drive in five of the six Rockies runs in the second inning. Holliday hits his 12th home run of the month, while Hawpe doubles in two. The Rockies are on their way to a sweep of the Dodgers, leading 6-0 in the third. Of course, anything can happen at Coors.

Zack Greinke's pitches are not missing today. Through three innings, he's thrown 37 pitches, 30 for strikes. That's an amazing 81%. He's retired all nine men he's faced so far, four on strikeouts. Garland's also retired the first six batters, but a bunt single by Gathright breaks that streak to start the third.

Update: Owens doubles leading off the fourth, breaking up Zack's perfect game. Still no score.

Update: The Royals break on top with a run in the sixth. Back-to-back doubles by Buck and Pena put Greinke and Royals up 1-0. Zack's thrown 58 of 77 pitches for strikes, as he has allowed one hit and no walks.

There's a light schedule today, but five games in the NL impact the playoff race. This afternoon, the Dodgers and Rockies finish up their four game series, and Colorado can't afford to lose if they're going to capture the NL Wild Card, or even the division. They send Ubaldo Jimenez against Derek Lowe. Jimenez has rough first innings, so if he gets by the top of the lineup, look for him to pitch a good game.

Pitching rejects Matt Morris and Bret Tomko face off in San Diego. Morris has pitched worse for the Pirates than he did for the Giants. Tomko's walked 1 and struck out 11 in 11 innings for San Diego.

The Phillies send Kyle Lohse against the Nationals and Jason Bergmann. Jason tends to give up the long ball, but otherwise has had a pretty decent year for the Nationals. Lohse is good enough to be 2-0 in nine starts with the Phillies. They score enough runs that he doesn't lose.

The Mets travel to Florida, where the Marlins held Dontrelle Willis back a day to pitch against New York. With the way Willis pitched this season, that has to bring a smile to Willie Randolph's face. Tom Glavine takes the hill for New York. He's undefeated since the All-Star break with a 3.15 ERA.

The Brewers get a chance to "make up a win" as they face the Braves this evening. Jeff Suppan is only 3-8 on the road with a 5.44 ERA. Keep your eye on Prince Fielder as well as he's just three home runs shy of 50.

The LAnaheim Angels can clinch a tie for the AL West with a win over the Mariners tonight. It's the last chance for Seattle to show some guts, heart and determination, or more to the point, that they can hit and pitch before getting eliminated. A sweep of the Angels in Anaheim would certainly be a moral victory for the Mariners.

Enjoy!

The Cubs were complaining about the rotation the Astros used against Milwaukee, but it worked out as Hunter Pence delivered after his collision with a wall.

Having already used five relievers after needing four the previous night when Ben Sheets departed after one inning, Yost turned to Wise, knowing the right-hander had been in the dumps for weeks. And that trend continued.

A walk by pinch hitter Orlando Palmeiro, single by Berkman and deep fly by Lee that moved pinch runner Brandon Backe to third set the stage for Pence's sharp single to left on a 3-2 changeup.

"The thing that makes me want to puke is walking Palmeiro to lead off the inning. That's inexcusable," said Wise, who no longer blames his downfall on hitting Cincinnati's Jose Lopez in the face with a pitch in late July.

"My second half has been something to forget. It's a snowball effect I fight mentally every day. I'm trying everything I can to fix the problem but the results aren't there."

The Brewers have two games in hand, today and Monday, but that also means no rest for the weary. And they need to come up with another starter, as Ben Sheets looks like he won't take his next turn. On top of that, eight of the Brewers last eleven games are against the Braves and Padres, the teams that are 1-2 in the NL in run difference. The Cubs get the Pirates, Marlins and Reds. Things are looking good for Chicago right now.

Gordon Edes wants Boston fans to just take a deep breath:

This lesson hasn't even had time to collect dust. A year ago, the Detroit Tigers took the lead in their division May 21, led by as many as 10 games Aug. 7, then blew it. They lost their last five games of the season, all at home - the last three to the Royals, 100-game losers - and had to settle for the wild card. They were lousy the last month of the season, going 12-16.

Then they shocked the Yankees in the first round of the postseason, rolled over the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series, and played in the World Series. No one even notices there isn't a divisional flag flying in Comerica Park.

Then there were the Cardinals, who had a seven-game lead in the National League Central a year ago today, then lost seven in a row and eight of nine, their lead shrinking to a half-game, before they righted themselves. The Cardinals won the World Series.

So, would anyone in New England like to take a deep breath, especially with the Sox' magic number to qualify for the playoffs just three after the Tigers were swept by Cleveland?

Exactly right. The Red Sox are without their top three hitters right now, so it's not surprising they're having trouble scoring runs. The worry should be how many of them are going to be back for the playoffs.

Also of some concern is that the Sox went from first seed to third seed yesterday as both the Indians and Angels went up by 1/2 game, one in the AFILC. Not only do the Red Sox get to open on the road if this holds up, but the way things stand right now they'd play the cross country series. While Boston plays fine on the road, the Angels own the best home record in the majors. It's good news for Cleveland, too, who would undoubtedly pick the extra day off so they can pitch Sabathia and Carmoa twice.

Brad Hawpe kept the Rockies playoff hopes alive with a two-run shot in the eighth inning as Colorado defeated Los Angeles 6-5. Hawpe's power is pretty limited to Coors field, as nineteen of his twenty six homers came at home, and he's slugging about 200 points higher in the rare air (.604 to .414).

Matt Holliday hit two earlier in the game, and his home run tear continues. He's hit ten in his last eleven games, collecting eighteen RBI and seventeen runs scored along the way. And he's going to need to keep that up if the Rockies are going to make a run at the Padres for the Wild Card.

Down in San Diego, Scott Hairston kept the Padres close to the Diamondbacks with a three-run walk off homer in the bottom of the ninth. Matt Capps has done a good job of keeping the ball in the park this season, but that long ball wasted a great effort by Ian Snell as the Padres win 5-3. Hairston hasn't played much for San Diego since joining the team from the Diamondbacks, but he seems to have PETCO Park measured, as all five of his Padres home runs came there. In 32 at bats, he's slugging .906 at home as one of the Padres.

And that Padres win keeps the Rockies from getting two excited:

For all they have done in knocking off the Dodgers three times in the past two days, leaving Los Angeles with little, if any, reason to think a postseason opportunity awaits them, the Rockies realize they have done nothing for themselves.

"It's always nice to win, but we are still a long ways from where we want to be," said reliever Brian Fuentes, whose perfect eighth earned him the victory. "The key for us has been we don't get too down when we lose, even in a couple of stretches when some people wrote us off, but we also can't get too high when we win.

"This game didn't change our season. It didn't guarantee us anything except the opportunity to keep playing for something."

It wasn't a great night for the massive tie scenario as the Phillies lost and the three teams ahead of them won. The Cardinals won 2-1 in the tenth as they allowed two of the Cardinals weakest hitters, Cairo and Molina to beat them. Miguel singled and stole second, and Yadier drove him in with another single. That makes the massive tie look like this:

Team	Record
Rockies	10-0
Phillies	8-2
Padres	6-5
Mets	6-5
Diamondbacks	4-5

By losing last night, the Dodgers pretty much lost their chance at the playoffs. Even the Rockies are a long shot, although they do play the Padres three games this weekend. They'll need all of those and some help.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

In a 1-1 game, the Cardinals put a man on third with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Geary, however, gets a pop up and a fly out to end the inning, and for the second night in a row, the Phillies and Cardinals go to extra innings to decide the game.

Rickey Weeks hits a ball the opposite way, deep to right with a man on second in the ninth. Hunter Pence went back, keeping his eye on the ball but not the wall. The ball goes over the fence to tie the game, but Pence crashed into the wall and hits the deck. He's up and staying in the game, and Lidge gets another blown save.

The Mets offense once again provided plenty of runs, and the pitching was up to holding a lead as Washington falls 8-4. Pelfry gave up three runs over five innings, and the bullpen allowed just three hits and an unearned run as the Mets stop the losing streak and will at least maintain their lead in the NL East. New York has scored 31 runs in their last six games, a healthy amount of offense. It was the 43 allowed that was the problem.

Update: I make a guest appearance on the Metsblog Podcast tonight.

Derrek Lee gets a base hit to rightfield in a 2-2 tie. Ken Griffey fields the ball and gets it back in to hold Theriot at third, then collapses. He struck out the previous inning, and replays show a twinge of pain on the K. But when he planted to throw, his glove went to his groin, so it's either a high hamstring pull or a groin pull. He's limping off the field now, but he's probably done for the season.

The Cubs have runners at first and third with one out.

Update: Matt Murton hits a soft fly ball toward the line in leftfield. Dunn dives and appears to make a catch, but the umpire indicates the ball hit the turf. The run scores from third, but Dunn throws out Lee advancing the second. The rare fly ball fielder's choice puts the Cubs in the lead 3-2.

Update: Howry, who pitched the eighth, stays in and gets the Reds in the ninth and the Cubs win 3-2. Meanwhile, the Astros score in the bottom of the seventh to tie the Brewers at two, then take the lead int he bottom of the eighth. They now lead 4-2 and the Brewers are in danger of falling a game behind the Cubs.

Down 2-1 to the Blue Jays in the bottom of the eighth, Papelbon enters the game with the bases loaded, trying to keep the game close. He strikes out Lind, but Adams hits a grand slam, the first hit Papaelbon allows with the bases loaded in his career. Toronto holds on in the ninth and defeat Boston 6-1.

The Yankees are leading 2-1 in the top of the ninth. Rivera just loaded the bases with two out.

Update: Rivera strikes out Scott Moore looking, and the Yankees are 1 1/2 games out of first place.

The Toronto Blue Jays in sweeping the Red Sox received three very good starts from pitchers not named Halladay. That has to get Toronto fans thinking about a very good staff for next season.

Andy Pettitte gets the win in New York, the 200th win of his career. That's very good for a thirteen year career. He's talking about retirement, but if he could stay around another five season he could easily get to 250 wins.

Brad Penny, who allowed six home runs all season coming into tonight, gives up three in three innings in Colorado. Holliday hits two of them to set a new career high in home runs with 35. The Rockies lead 3-2 in the fourth as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Reds and Cubs are tied at two in the top of the sixth. All four runs came off solo home runs. Adam Dunn hit his fortieth, his fourth straight season at that level (if he doesn't hit one the rest of the year, he'll have three straight seasons with exactly 40). Lilly and Shearn are both pitching well, Tom giving up one more base runner but also inducing one more double play.

If you missed tonight's show, you can hear the recorded version here. It's also available on demand at TPSRadio.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

Ervin Santana has seven strikeouts through four innings this afternoon. The Angels lead the Devil Rays 1-0 on a Juan Rivera home run.

What do you do with Santana if the Angels get home field in the first round? Do they pitch him in game two so he gets a start at home and use Escobar and Weaver on the road? I assume Lackey goes in game one. I also assume that if the Angels get best record, they take the day off and Lackey, Escobar and Weaver pitch the five games, making the question moot.

Alexei Ramirez migrated to the Dominican Republic and will apply to be a free agent.

Baseball agent Jaime Torres told ESPN that Alexei Ramirez, who led the Cuban league in home runs this season as an infielder/outfielder for Pinar del Rio, has left Cuba and intends to file for residency in the Dominican Republic.

Torres, who also represents White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras, said Ramirez expects to apply to Major League Baseball for free agency.

Alexei posted a .389 OBA and a .500 slugging percentage in the WBC.

The Cleveland Indians defeat the Tigers 4-2 and drop their magic number to three. The race in the Central is essentially over, and the Indians put an exclamation mark on the season by sweeping the one rival left in the division. Cleveland is 25-8 since they lost to Detroit on 8/14. The Tribe won 6 of their last seven games against the Tigers.

C.C. Sabathia pitches seven innings for the win, his eighteenth. He allows two runs, lowering his ERA to 3.19, moving him ahead of Beckett for sixth in the AL. He struck out seven and walked one, putting him over 200 Ks for the first time in his career.

Blake homered for the Indians today. In the three game series, Cleveland out homered Detroit 8-1. The Tigers out hit Cleveland in each game of the series, 31-21 overall, but the home runs made the difference.

My thoughts on changes to the playoffs are available to Baseball Prospectus subscribers in my latest column.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

There's a possibility of multiple ties for best record in the AL this season. The three division leaders all have 62 losses right now, and the Yankees are at 64. The Yankees hold the tie break over Boston, so in the event of all four teams finishing with the same record, the Yankees win the division. In a three way tie, best record in head to head competition breaks the first tie, and that goes to the Yankees. They are 9-6 against Cleveland and LAnaheim. The Angels are 11-8, the same number of games over .500, but a lower winning percentage. That would leave the Indians and Angels tied, and their first tie breaker would be head-to-head between the two teams. They split ten games this season. So the second tie-breaker is intra division play. Cleveland is 45-23 against the Central, a .662 winning percentage. LAnaheim is 28-19 against the west, a .595 winning percentage. So as things stand right now, a four way tie results in a LAnaheim/New York series and a Boston/Cleveland series, with the Yankees getting to choose if they want an extra day off.

If a three-way tie between Boston, Cleveland and LAnaheim, Boston wins best record, and the Cleveland/LAnaheim tie breaker is as above. Boston holds head-to-head tie breakers against both Cleveland and LAnaheim. New York holds a head-to-head tie-breaker against Cleveland, but loses to the Angels.

For all intents and purposes, the Indians lock up the AL Central with a win against Detroit this afternoon.

C.C. Sabathia gets the chance to add to his Cy Young credentials as he faces Nate Robertson. With a win today, C.C. sets a new career high in Ws, 18. He's 6-2 against the Tigers and Twins this season. Sabathia is on an impressive late season run, with his ERA reflecting his superb strikeout, walk and home run rates. Nate Robertson doesn't do anything particularly well or particularly badly, he just gives up lots of hits.

The Mets pitching and defense has been porous of late, and they're not doing much to change that by sending Mike Pelfry to the mound. In his short career he's consistently walked too many batters, and given up two many hits to drive those walks around. The Nationals send out Matt Chico, who is vulnerable to the long ball, even in Washington.

Ted Lilly goes for a career high in wins as the Cubs host the Reds in the rubber game of their series. The Cubs and Brewers are tied in the NL Central in terms of games back, but the Brewers have two games in hand, so the Cubs need to keep winning. Lilly's struck out 24 Reds in 18 innings this season, but they managed eight earned runs against him. He'll face Tom Shearn. The rookie is off to a 3-0 start. He doesn't walk many, but opponents can take him deep.

Clay Buchholz makes a spot start for Boston as Terry Francona tries to give Schilling and Matsuzaka some extra rest going into the final week of the season. The last time Clay started a game, he pitched a no-hitter. Overall, batters are just four for 58 against Buchholz in his rookie year. Jesse Litsch gets the chance to be the latest pitcher to spoil Boston's AL East championship bid. Litsch is having a bad September, however, having allowed five home runs in 11 1/3 innings.

Chris Young and the Padres host Ian Snell and the Pirates tonight. Young's made only two good starts since his return from the disabled list in early August. That makes me wonder if he was rushed back. Five of his nine home runs allowed came in that time, although he strikeout rate remains good. Ian Snell can go home from the 2007 season knowing he improved in his second full year. If his run support had improved as well, he might have a winning record with his 3.92 ERA.

Enjoy!

Arrr, those filthy Philles made bilge rats out o' the Cardinals last night, taking fourteen innings to down the Red Birds 7-4. Rod Barajas singled in the winning run with two out in the ninth after a Howard K and an intentional walk to Rowand. Jason Werth added a triple to cement the victory.

Cole Hamels lasted just three innings in his return, and the much maligned Phillies bullpen put together eleven innings of one-run ball, striking out eight and walking just two. The Phillies are now 1 1/2 games behind the Mets in the NL East. The Mets are walking the historical plank:

Just a week ago, the Mets led the NL East by seven games with 17 to play - a lead no team in MLB history had squandered in that time frame, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"If I told you I'm not worried, I'd be lying, but we have a good team," said Moises Alou, who was pulled in the fifth with tightness in the left quadriceps muscle he strained in May, an injury that cost him 2-1/2 months.

The Phillies may make up for 1964 this season.

The Diamondbacks gave Micah Owings nine days off, and he responded with a complete game shutout of the Giants. He was nearly unhittable as the Giants managed two hits and one walk. And Owings went 1 for 3 at the plate with a double and is now slugging .618. Nine of his 16 hits this season went for extra bases.

Arizona needed the win as the Padres kept pace with a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh. The heart of the Pirates order (3-4-5 hitters) collected seven hits in thirteen at bats, but only scored three times. Maddux earns his 13th win, the 20th time in his career he's reached that level.

The win by Arizona and the loss by the Mets gives the Diamondbacks the best record in the NL. That means the team with the highest winning percentage has a negative run difference.

As for the massive tie, it's going to be tough to get the third team involved from the NL West after yesterday:

Team	Record
Dodgers or Rockies	11-0
Phillies	8-3
Padres	7-5
Mets	7-5
Diamondbacks	5-5

With five games head-to-head, the Dodgers and Rockies can't both go 11-0. So for either of these teams to make it, they four teams ahead of them are going to need to play worse than the above records. We do have a tie in the NL Central, and some tie, at least for a division title, seems a real possibility.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Dodgers and Rockies play a much more Coors like game in the night cap. Colorado scored four runs in the last two innings to sweep the Dodgers, winning the night cap by a score of 9-8. Once again, Todd Helton was the hero as Holliday singled with two out in the ninth to bring Todd to the plate, and Helton homered off Saito to win the game. The two H's combined for four runs and five RBI in the contest, with Holliday missing the cycle by a triple.

The teams are now tied for third in the NL West, and this makes a massive tie a bit tougher to obtain.

Here's what Sir Paul thinks of the sweep:

Gideon checked out and he left it no doubt To help with good rockys revival

The Phillies and Cardinals go to extra innings tied at three.

Update: The Phillies load the bases and score on a throwing error by Miles. He tries to get the runner at the plate, but his throw is low and Stinnett can't scoop it. The bases are still loaded with one out as the Phillies lead 4-3.

Update: The Cardinals tie it in the bottom of the 10th. This one goes to eleven.

John Lackey takes a no-hitter into the fifth. He's thrown 51 pitches against Tampa Bay, 35 for strikes.

Update: Lackey gives up a hit in the fifth, but he's still holding on to the shutout through six innings.

David Weathers gives up just one hit tonight as he shuts the Cubs down in the bottom of the ninth for a 5-2 Reds victory over Chicago. Harang gets the win for seven innings in which he allowed just two runs on six hits while he struck out six. That ties him with Brad Penny for best winning percentage in the National League. The Cubs look like they'll fall into a tie with Brewers who are leading 9-1 in the bottom of the ninth.

The Mets showed a lot of guts, heart and determination in the ninth inning, but only scored one run to fall to the Nationals 9-8. They've lost five in a row, giving up 31 runs in the last three losses. I'm guessing MetsBlog.com is going to see a lot of anger directed toward John Maine in their comments, since he gave up eight runs tonight and 15 in his last 14 2/3 innings. Just remember, express your anger politely!

The Phillies and Cardinals are tied at three in the seventh.

Earlier today, my good friend Jim Storer called to ask me why the Yankees were doing so well. My first response was, "Because they know how to win." Not what he was looking for. So I stated the obvious, "Because Derek Jeter is the greatest clutch hitter ever." Still not the right answer. Knowing I was going down the wrong track, he explained to me, "Because Doug Mientkiewicz is playing first!"

And of course, Doug played a great game tonight. He went two for four with a homer and drove in four runs as the Yankees shut out the Orioles 12-0. They never would have won that game with Giambi at first. :-)

The Yankees also have to be very happy with Mike Mussina tonight. Mike limited the "A" Orioles lineup to three hits and one walk over seven innings, while striking out six. It was a flash of the old Mike, and we'll see how long it lasts. If it's through October, he'll be a big boost to the pitching staff.

The aforementioned Derek Jeter picked up three hits tonight, bringing his total for the season to 190. That's the ninth time he's reached that level. He needs ten more hits for 200 on the season and 2350 for his career. That puts him at 3000 somewhere early in 2011 if he keeps up that rate. If Jeter can extend his career as a scrappy DH, ala Paul Molitor, I could see him reaching 4000 hits.

Remember, the Yankees just need to tie the Red Sox to win the division. The now stand 2 1/2 games out of first.

Eric Gagne gets two quick outs in the eighth, then loads the bases on two walks and a single. With Eric having trouble finding the plate, Greg Zaun just takes pitches and walks to force in the tying run. Russ Adams then doubles over Drew's glove in right to drive in two more, but Zaun is thrown out at the plate to end the inning. Once again, the Yankees are very glad they didn't acquire Gagne. Why he was left in after loading the bases, will be a big question for Terry Francona after the game.

Update: Burnett tries for a complete game, but he gives up a solo shot to Julio Lugo with two out in the ninth to make the score 4-3 in favor of the Jays. Burnett struck out eleven and walked just three. He threw 124 pitches.

Update: Down comes in and gets a strikeout to end the game. It looks like they're going to lose another game in the standings tonight.

The Brewers are doing a great job of dealing with the Sheets injury. Vargas hasn't allowed a run, and Ryan Braun hit for the tough half of the cycle, collecting a triple and home run tonight to help Milwaukee to a 7-1 lead in the fifth. And as they look up at the scoreboard, they see the Cubs losing 4-2.

The Indians' chief weapon tonight is the home run. Despite being out hit twelve to six, the Indians lead the Tigers 7-4 in the top of the seventh as they've out-homered Detroit 4-0. The four long balls account for all seven runs, and all came off Verlander. Justin had allowed just 14 all season coming into tonight. With the Yankees leading 7-0 tonight, Detroit's season is getting very close to over.

Update: The Tigers are headed toward the comfy chair and the soft cushions as they fall 7-4. The Indians magic number goes to five, while the Yankees need seven wins or Tiger losses to clinch the wild card.

Albert Pujols was a late scratch for the Cardinals tonight. La Russa decided to replace him with Miguel Cairo. So where does he bat? Third of course. And he just knocked in a run.

I'm going to bang my head against a wall for a few minutes.

For the second day in a row, Mets got out to a lead and Washington fights back to move ahead. So far this evening, the Mets had leads of 4-0, 5-1 and 7-3, but the Nationals have scored five runs so far in the bottom of the fifth to take an 8-7 advantage. No errors for New York tonight, it's all John Maine. He's out of the game after allowing eleven hits and two walks over 4 1/3 innings. (The Nationals have allowed the same number of hits and walks through five.)

Claudio Vargas replaces Ben Sheets at the start of the second inning. Sheets got through the first inning on just twelve pitches, but gave up a double and a single to put Houston up 1-0. I just turned on the game to see if the announcers report anything.

Both Sheets and Zambrano are pitching on short rest tonight. Ben is out, and Zambrano has allowed five hits and three runs through two as the Reds lead 3-0.

Update: The Houston broadcast reports Ben Sheets left with tightness in his left hamstring. That's not good news for Milwaukee.

The Cleveland Indians just tied the Tigers at four in the bottom of the third. The Indians are hitting Westbrook, picking up eight hits through the first three innings. But seven of them were singles. The Indians just have two hits, one a solo homer by Garko, the other the three-run shot by Hafner after two walks to tie the game. Talk about making your hits count! This game is going badly for Detroit. They should be leading big, but Cleveland has plated all but one base runner, making the most of their opportunities.

The Rockies take game one 3-1. If they win tonight, they tie Los Angeles for third place in the NL West. Francis made a fine start, striking out ten in 6 2/3 innings. That's a big reason the nine base runners he allowed didn't advance very far.

With a man on third and one out in the sixth, the Dodgers walk Matt Holliday to pitch to Todd Helton. Todd delivers an RBI single, and the Rockies go up 2-0. The Dodgers are 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position today.

Update: Olmedo Saenz pinch hits in the seventh and homers to cut the lead in half. It's his first home run since June and his second as a pinch hitter this season.

The Dodgers and Rockies are tied after three innings. The Dodgers reached base five times against Jeff Francis so far, leaving two runners on in both the first and third innings. Billingsley allowed just one hit so far, and that runner was removed by a double play. The teams go to the fourth scoreless.

Update: Sullivan and Holliday combine for a run as Cory doubles and Matt singles to put the Rockies up 1-0.

The Dodgers play two in the rare air of Colorado today, with the Rockies playoff hopes hanging in the balance. Basically, Colorado really can't afford to lose many as they take a shot at the wild card. And they have the opportunity as over the next ten days they play seven against the Dodgers and three against the Padres. Billingsley against Francis in the opener is the best of the two matchups. The Rockies have handled Chad this season, hitting three home runs against him in 10 2/3 innings. Francis has pitched well at home this season, and it's doubles, not home runs that bother him at Coors.

Detroit needs a win, too. They'll send ace Justin Verlander against Cleveland's Jake Westbrook. Westbrook's strength is keeping the ball in the park, otherwise he's not that good. Verlander does that better, and also posts good strikeout and walk numbers. This is a pitching matchup that favors the Tigers. If they don't win this one, they have Sabathia tomorrow, and it will be tough to walk away with one win in this series.

The Reds and Cubs match up their aces as Aaron Harang takes on Carlos Zambrano. With a win, Harang ties Penny for best winning percentage in the NL. Zambrano needs to return to his July form. Coming off a bad August he's allowed a 4.91 ERA in September.

And in a big game for the Phillies, Cole Hamels returns to the starting rotation. The Phillies starters were 9-8 with a 5.52 ERA without Cole in the rotation, but the team has gone 17-13 overall.

Enjoy!

MetsBlog.com is being deluged with inappropriate comments. I'm thankful that doesn't happen here. I do get spammers who sometimes make the system run real slow, but over the years software learned to deal with that. The comments left on this blog are usually high quality and well thought out, and I get very little name calling and bad language. Remember, a blog is supposed to be a conversation. When you're writing, make believe the comment is being directed at a person sitting next to you. There's no need to get profane or abusive. That just makes you look like an idiot. So if you're at MetsBlog.com and see that going on, try to move the conversation to a more civil tone. Matt Cerrone's blog deserves the highest quality of comments.

In October, I'll become part of the team at SportingNews.com. I want to thank everyone there for the opportunity to write a weekly column and expand my readership. And thanks to all my readers for making this site popular enough to be noticed by an organization like SportingNews.com. We're still working out the focus of the columns, so expect more on that over the next couple of weeks.

The person who purchased the ball Barry Bonds hit for his 756th, record-breaking home run is letting the public decide the fate of the artifact:

The fate of Barry Bonds' record-breaking home run ball is now in the public's hands after its buyer announced Monday he was taking votes on whether to give the ball to the Hall of Fame, brand it with an asterisk or blast it into space.

Fashion designer Marc Ecko revealed himself as Saturday's winning bidder in the online auction for the ball that Bonds hit last month to break Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs. The final selling price for No. 756 was $752,467, well above most predictions.
Ecko had not even taken possession of the ball before setting up a Web site that lets visitors vote on which of the three outcomes they think the ball most deserves. He plans to announce the final tally after voting ends Sept. 25.

"I bought this baseball to democratize the debate over what to do with it," Ecko wrote on the Web site. "The idea that some of the best athletes in the country are forced to decide between being competitive and staying natural is troubling."

This, of couse, from someone who designs clothes modeled by perfectly natural women.

The voting site is here. Please vote to send the ball to the Hall of Fame where it belongs. I don't want to see history destroyed again a la the Bartman ball.

Also, there don't seem to be any safeguards on the site. Unless the auditors go through log files, there's nothing to stop you from voting as much as you like for one choice or another.

The chances of a massive tie increased a bit last night as the Phillies and Padres won, while the Diamondbacks lost. Here's one way to get a four way tie for the NL West/Wild Card:

Team	Record
Dodgers	11-2
Phillies	9-3
Padres	8-5
Diamondbacks	6-5

But wait, with the Phillies just 2 1/2 games behind the Mets, it's time to bring in a fifth team.

Team	Record
Dodgers	11-2
Phillies	9-3
Padres	8-5
Diamondbacks	6-5
Mets	7-6

Bringing the Mets into the tie doesn't do anything to lengthen the playoffs, but it does give up another game to enjoy! And, if the three wild card contenders tie the Mets instead of the Diamondbacks, we still get three days of playoff games! The Cubs and Brewers are still separated by one game in the Central. We could wind up with seven teams competing for four spots at the end of the regular season!

The LAnaheim Angels won last night, although Kelvim Escobar continues to struggle.

Over his last six starts Kelvim allowed a 7.39 ERA. Last night he last just four innings, allowing six runs. The good news is that his strikeout rate remains high. The bad news is that both his walk and home run rates are up. Opponents hit eleven home runs off Kelvim all year, but four over this slump.

There's no explanation coming from the Angels:

In four starts this month, Escobar has an 11.49 earned-run average. He has failed to complete six innings in all of those starts, after pitching at least six innings in 17 of his previous 18 starts. His rhythm is out of whack, Scioscia said, but fatigue and injury are not issues.

"It's something every pitcher is going to go through," Scioscia said. "It's not an opportune time for it to happen for Kelvim."

With the demise of Dan Haren, Escobar was poised to capture the ERA title and the Cy Young award, but this poor stretch takes him out of the running. The Angels need to hope that Scioscia is right, and that a mechanical adjustment is all Escobar needs.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Diamondbacks work their way back from a 3-1 deficit, scoring once in the sixth and three times so far in the seventh to go up 5-3 on the Giants. Chris Young gets the big hit, a triple with two on for the potential GWRBI. You can't stop the Diamondbacks, you can only hope to contain them!

Update: They change Young's hit to a double. There was a bobble in the outfield. But then Tony Pena comes in to pitch, puts two men on and gives up a three-run homer to Randy Winn. With the Padres winning 3-0, Arizona needs another comeback.

Update: Feliz hits a 2-run shot, and the Padres win 3-0. The massive tie is looking good!

The Cardinals have worked their way back to down 13-11. They have two on with two out in the bottom of the ninth.

Update: Rosario strikes out Branyan on a 3-2 count as he freezes on a pitch at the knees. The Phillies pick up a game on the Mets in an ugly win. Howard and Rowand both go deep twice. Neither bullpen did a good job as the Phillies relievers give up eight runs and the Cardinals give up nine.

With the Cubs needing a win to stay alone in first place, David Weathers comes in to pitch for Cincinnati in the bottom of the ninth. He walks Theriot, gives up a single to Lee, the Ramirez triples as Hopper goes for a diving catch. Two runs score, the Cubs tie the game at six, and the Reds walk Ward to pitch to DeRosa. Weathers needs a strikeout here.

Update:DeRosa grounds one up the middle. It ticks off Weathers glove, and that changes the direction enough so that the drawn in second baseman ends up going in the wrong direction. DeRosa goes five for five on the night, and the Cubs win 7-6.

What a great night for baseball. Comebacks, extra-inning games, shutouts, multi-home runs games, and great pennant races. Nights like this are why I love this game.

The Yankees win 8-5 over the Orioles, but it was another long, ugly game. Farnsworth comes on to pitch the ninth with an 8-3 lead, and can't get three outs. He puts the game into a save situation, giving up one run, then Rivera comes on to give up a single and second run before getting the third out. Farnsworth left to boos as the Yankees were forced to use their closer on a night they should have given him time off.

Still, the Yankees win and gain a game on the Red Sox, reducing their lead to 3 1/2 games and extending their lead over Detroit to 3 1/2 in the wild card. Apart from the breakdown in the ninth, a good night for the Yankees.

Yovani Gallardo pitches eight shutout innings against Houston tonight, making him 3-0 in September with a 0.00 ERA. That's a great recovery from his 7.55 ERA in August. The Brewers win 6-0 and hope the Reds can hold on to their lead over the Cubs.

Casey Blake just dealt the Tigers playoff hopes a real blow. His solo home run in the bottom of the eleventh earns Cleveland a 6-5 win and takes the Indians magic number down to seven. With the Yankees leading 8-3 in the top of the ninth, the Tigers may also lose a game in the wild card standings.

Nice job by the Cleveland bullpen tonight, pitching 3 2/3 innings, giving up just two hits while striking out six. Paul Byrd, the starter, did not strike out a batter in the game and allowed all five runs.

The Washington Nationals take down the Mets 12-4 as four Washington players drive in two runs each. New York used six pitchers in the game, and all gave up at least one run. The loss puts the Mets in danger of seeing their lead shrink to 2 1/2 games as the Phillies lead the Cardinals 12-3 in the seventh. That's the second game in a row the Mets allowed ten runs or more, and the third time in their last six games.

Update: The Cardinals are mounting a comeback, scoring six runs so far in the bottom of the seventh. It's now 12-9 Philadelphia. I guess no lead is safe with the Phillies bullpen in the game.

Bud Black employs the Gene Mauch strategy of bunting in the first inning to score one run. That gives the Padres the early lead, but I'm to see it against a pitcher with an ERA over 10. Big innings are an odds on favorite with someone like that on the mound.

The White Sox score eleven runs in the fifth inning tonight off Davies and Duckworth of the Royals. They hit a solo, two-run and three-run homer in the inning, just missing the homer cycle by a grand slam. The White Sox need wins against Kansas City to climb out of last place in the AL Central.

Rich Hill strikeouts out seven with just one walk, but he's chased in the fifth as the Reds retake the lead with three runs. Hill's pitch count was getting high, but he wasn't getting hit that hard. Did anyone see if he was hurt? The Reds lead 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth.

Update: A walk and two singles tie the game in the bottom of the fifth.

The Phillies are taking no prisoners in St. Louis tonight. They've hit three home runs and a double, and 7-0 in the bottom of the fifth. They've already forced the Cardinals to use three pitchers, all with opposition batting averages over .300. Washington is helping them out tonight as the Nationals lead the Mets 9-4 in the bottom of the seventh.

Jhonny Peralta hits his second home run of the game, a two run shot in the bottom of the eighth to tie the Tigers at five. The three RBI puts him past his total of last season, and the two hits puts him at 147 on the year, tying his career high. The Indians are still batting having scored three in the inning.

Frank Thomas and Dustin McGowan are putting a hurting on the Boston Red Sox tonight. Thomas has as many home runs as the Red Sox have hits, as his three homers accounted for five of the Blue Jays six runs. McGowan has struck out 8 through 8 innings without walking a batter, and the Red Sox only managed one run off their three hits.

It's Thomas' second three home run game in his career. His other also came in September, on the 15th in 1996. They were all solo shots in that game, and he was playing against the Red Sox that night.

Update: It's a final as McGowan completes the game, throwing 122 pitches, striking out nine and walking none. McGowan's K/BB is under 2.0 for the season despite a high number of strikeouts, so showing that kind of control against the Red Sox is a good sign. The Yankees are leading 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Reds break on top of the Cubs 1-0 in the third as Ross doubles and comes around on a sacrifice and a ground out. Meanwhile, a walk, hit by pitch and a double lead to two runs for the Brewers in the first, and they lead Houston 2-0, also in the third.

Update: Cliff Floyd homers in the bottom of the third to put the Cubs up 2-1. Cliff is having a good stretch run as he's now hit four home runs in 29 September at bats.

Update: Mark DeRosa follows with a solo shot to make the score 3-1 Cubs. Mark has 10 RBI in 12 games vs. the Reds this season.

Carlos Beltran hit home run number 30 tonight, helping the Mets score four runs as they are tied with the Nationals in the top of the fifth. Beltran was hitting poorly before hitting the disabled list in late July. His average stood at .263/.340/.483 BA/OBA/Slug. But the rest and recuperation did him well. The home run tonight was his eleventh in thirty five games since returning, and he came into the evening with averages of .339/.418/.694 in that time. Those are numbers worth a big contract. With both Beltran and Pedro making successful returns from injury, the Mets are looking stronger heading into the post season.

Here's why Mariano Rivera pitched poorly last night. That's some errant throw. Thanks to MS for the tip.

Placido Polanco hits a solo shot in the top of the third at Cleveland, and there are cheers as he rounds the bases. It looks like Detroit fans made the trek to Cleveland for the game. I love to see that. The Tigers lead 2-1 in the bottom of the third.

MLBTradeRumors.com looks at the best trades of the last calendar year.

The Detroit Tigers get one last chance to make a run at the AL Central title as they travel to Cleveland 4 1/2 games behind the Indians. Even a three game sweep of Cleveland leaves the Tigers needing help from some other teams. They start the series with a matchup of wily veterans as Kenny Rogers faces Paul Byrd. Rogers makes just his ninth start in an injury plagued season. Even though his ERA is higher than in 2006, his component numbers compare favorably to that season, with his home runs up a bit. Byrd is 9-1 against division opponents this season, including 2-0 against Detroit in three starts. However, the Tigers have hit him, scoring 14 runs in 18 2/3 innings, eleven earned. The Tigers rank third lowest in walks drawn, so they're looking to put the ball in play. Byrd puts pitches in the strike zone, and the Tigers hit them.

The Yankees will be rooting for Cleveland as they try to figure out the Orioles. The Yankees might want the Indians to finish ahead of the Angels, because New York dominated Cleveland this season. But the Yankees are just 4-8 against Baltimore this season. They'll face Daniel Cabrera. He's posted a 3.79 ERA against the Yankees, despite walking 13 in 19 innings. Phil Hughes is pitching better in September, allowing three earned runs in 12 innings of work.

The Cubs and the Reds meet up in Chicago as Cincinnati tries to reach third place in the NL Central and Chicago tries to hold on to the division lead. Bronson Arroyo and Rich Hill each have nine wins, but Hill has six fewer losses. Arroyo's pitching better in September as he's only walked three in twenty innings.

Enjoy!

FishStripes presents a look bad at an historical weekend for the Marlins.

Sammy Sosa broke the record for most home runs before his first grand slam, although I don't know if he still holds it.

Correction: Fixed the link.

The Detroit Free Press picks up a Boston Globe article comparing Curtis Granderson and Grady Sizemore going into tonight's Detroit-Cleveland game. They present both a pro-Sizemore expert and a pro-Granderson expert. Both make good points, but I would note that Sizemore, in terms of seasonal age is actually two years younger than Granderson, not one. On top of that, while Granderson improved his OBA in 2007, Sizemore's last two years each top that. Granderson does get the edge defensively, however. The Free Press breaks the tie by asking Torii Hunter.

Marcus Hayes reviews the strange events that led to the Phillies sweeping the Mets twice.

Bill Madden finds Jon Papelbon's cell phone in a cab. Of course, writing for the Daily News, it should have been required for Madden to go through the contact list and see who's who. :-)

Lookout Landing compares the Devil Rays pitching staff to his beloved Mariners:

The Devil Rays are one of the worst teams in baseball, and the four guys they threw out on the mound are better than any non-Felix starter we have in the system. A team with this many resources at its disposal should never find itself in this kind of situation, but here we are, and honestly, I don't see any imminent escape.

Bavasi signs people on what they did last year. Yesterday's starter, Washburn, was a typical example. His two years in Seattle are much more like his 2003-2004 seasons than his good 2005. Jeff Weaver finished well last year, but Bavasi ignored the rest of his season. Adrian Beltre, anyone? It almost worked this year, but the burst bubble destroyed any idea that this team was put together well.

The Rockies, losers of two out of three over the weekend are dropped from the massive tie scenario involving the wild card and the west. They basically need to go undefeated if Arizona plays .500 ball. The following scenario involves the four remaining teams and works if the Diamondbacks play .500 the rest of the way.

Team	Record
Dodgers	11-2
Phillies	10-3
Padres	9-5
Diamondbacks	6-6

The Dodgers can actually lose two out of three to the Diamondbacks if they win all the rest of their games. In reality, the Dodgers are going to need to sweep Arizona the next time they play. If Arizona plays worse than .500 ball, this scenario becomes easier to accomplish.

Colorado, however, can still figure in a four-team Wild Card tie.

Team	Record
Rockies	10-3
Dodgers	8-5
Phillies	7-6
Padres	6-8

Unlike the scenario above, this one requires that the Rockies go 4-3 against the Dodgers. The West/Wild Card above does not require any particular combination of wins against any particular team.

Since I'd rather see the division/wild card tie, since it takes two rounds of playoffs, here's what I'd like to see happen over the next series:

• Dodgers sweep the Rockies in four games.
• Phillies sweep the Cardinals in three games.
• Padres splits four with the Pirates.
• Arizona swept by the Giants in three games.

That would tighten everything up and make the rest of the season a little more even for the massive tie. On top of that, we still have close races for the NL Central and AL Wild Card. Who's looking forward to four games on the Monday after the season ends?

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Rivera walks the leadoff batter, then gives up a two-out double to Lugo to cut the lead to 4-3. Rivera then hits Ellsbury on the leg to put the winning run on base for Pedroia.

Update: Pedroia fights off a number of pitches and draw a walk to load the bases. David Ortiz is up. I don't know how they do it, but somehow the Red Sox always seem to get David up in these situations.

Update: Rivera gets Ortiz to pop up to Jeter to end the game. It's an ugly save, but the Yankees maintain their lead over Detroit in the Wild Card, and keep hope alive for the AL East title.

The Yankees take the season series against Boston, meaning they just need to tie Boston to possibly win the AL East. And they should want to win the division. It likely means playing Cleveland instead of LAnaheim. New York is 6-0 against Cleveland, 3-6 against the Angels.

Jason Giambi pinch hits for Molina, hitting the wall to put runners at second and third with one out in the eighth. Posada is the DH, but he's putting on catching gear, which means the Yankees would lose the designated hitter in a 1-1 game.

Damon breaks his bat and grounds out, holding the runners.

Update: It may not matter now. Jeter hits a home run into the third row of the Monster Seats and the Yankees lead 4-1. Schilling pitches a great game, but probably was left in one batter too long.

Update: Posada does indeed come in to catch. Chamberlain is in the lineup batting ninth.

Update: Mike Lowell homers off Joba Chamberlain to make the score 4-2. That's the first home run and first earned run allowed by Chamberlain. Lowell's really taken advantage of Fenway this season, with 13 of his 19 home runs coming at home.

Robinson Cano goes deep against Curt Schilling to tie the Red Sox at one. Five of his eighteen home runs came against the Red Sox this year,

Johnny Damon gets called out on an infield single in the third. It was one of those plays where he looked safe in real time, but looked even safer in slow motion. Lots of times when the umpire gets the call wrong, you can see why it happened. He got blocked by a fielder or a runner, but there was no excuse on this one. He just blew the call. The Red Sox lead 1-0 in the bottom of the third.

Michael Young picked up three hits today to bring his 2007 total to 186. His slow start in April may cost him a chance at five straight 200 hit seasons. He's hitting for a high average in September, 23 for 61 after today, .377. With thirteen games left for the Rangers, he'll need to get better than a hit a game to keep the streak alive.

Carlos Pena hit his 40th home run today, putting him in a class with Tiger slugger Hank Greenberg. In 1936, Hank played just 12 games and hit one home run. He came back in 1937 to hit 40. Last season, Pena played 18 games and hit just one home run.

That's not the biggest difference between two seasons. McGwire hit three in his cup of coffee season of 1986, then game back to win Rookie of the Year honors with 49. Killebrew did something similar, although he played small parts of five season before becoming a regular in 1959, going from 0 to 42 home runs. But for players well into their careers, the 39 home run difference is a record.

Tampa Bay wins game number 63, avoiding 100 losses this year.

Jake Peavy improves his Cy Young credentials as he:

• Wins his eighteenth game, the most in the league.
• Lowers his ERA to 2.39 with one run over 7 1/3 innings.
• Collects ten more strikeouts for the ninth time this season.

The Padres sweep the Giants, and the win means they'll at least keep pace with the Diamondbacks today.

Jim Thome made his 500th home run count in a big way. The White Sox scored eight runs in their last three at bats, erasing a 7-1 deficit to defeat the Angels 9-7. The last two runs came on a walk-off home run by Jim Thome both winning the game and becoming the third player this season to reach the 500 milestone. Hats off to Jim Thome on becoming the 23rd player in major league history to reach that level.

Jason Marquis pitches a solid game against his former team, helping the Cubs to a 4-2 win over the Cardinals. That keeps the Cubs one game ahead of the Brewers in the NL Central. Marquis goes to 3-1 this season against the Cardinals, and some combination of seven Cubs wins and Cardinals losses eliminates the defending World Series champions.

The Twins load the bases in both the eighth and ninth inning, but the Tigers hold on for a 6-4 win. The Twins scored a single run on four walks in the eighth, then in the ninth, Todd Jones came on to go for his 300th save. Jones gives up three hits and a walk, but nonetheless earns a save. It was a bad day allaround for the bullpen as they allowed five hits and walks in 3 2/3 innings.

The Tigers gain a game on the Indians, and put pressure on the Yankees with their fifth straight win.

It's interesting that Jake Peavy is pitching today. Because he started on three days rest against Arizona, giving him four days off between games the rest of the way means he'll start on Friday and the following Wednesday. Then if there is a tie-breaking game on the Monday after the scheduled season ends, Peavy gets to take the hill for San Diego. Los Angeles, Arizona and Philadelphia all sent out fifth starters today, meaning the Padres would have an advantage in almost any matchup, either against a poor starter or against a good starter on short rest.

Both Esteban Loaiza and Edgar Gonzalez have allowed one hit through three innings. The difference is that Gonzalez gave up just a single, while Loaiza's came with two men on due to walks and left the park. Snyder's thirteenth home run of the season was good luck as it put the Diamondbacks on top of the Dodgers 3-0.

Carlos Villanueva found that starting suits him. He made his fourth start of the season today against the Reds, and threw seven shutout innings. That takes his ERA as a starter down to 1.57. The Brewers win 5-2, at least keeping pace with the Cubs.

The Cleveland Indians failed to knock a game off their magic number, losing 4-3 to the Royals. It's the eighth time in their last nine game that the Indians pitching staff held the opposition to four runs or less. The starters are doing very well, posting a 2.89 ERA in that span.

The Mets are doing their best to give this afternoon's game to the Phillies. After tying the game in the bottom of the fifth, the Mets issue three walks and commit an error to put the Phillies back up 6-5. Philadelphia is still batting with the bases loaded and none out. Greg Dobbs takes advantage of the situation by hitting a pinch-hit grand slam. It's tough to walk nine and commit five errors and expect to win. The Phillies are up 10-5.

Jair Jurrjens is hard to hit, and even harder today as the Twins haven't collected a hit through four innings. Unlike his previous games, however, Jurrjens is striking out batters, five through four innings. The Tigers lead 4-0 batting in the top of the fifth.

Update: Jair retires the side in order in the fifth, striking out one more batter. He's thrown 70 pitches through five.

Update: Punto hits a hustle double in the bottom of the sixth to break up the no-hitter.

Up 5-2 in the fifth, Adam Eaton was one out away from qualifying for win. But Carlos Beltran launched a three-run homer to bring the Mets even with the Phillies. That leaves Beltran one short of 100 RBI on the season. It's his sixth home run of the season against Philadelphia.

The Astros lead the Pirates 9-1 in the bottom of the third. What's amazing is that they've scored that many with two of their best hitters, Pence and Lee, are 0-2 each. Even Backe has a double and a run scored.

Matt Murton is turning out to be a big disappointment for the Cubs. At age 25, his averages have regressed for the second straight year. His 2005 season set the stage for what looked like a good career, but Matt not only hasn't improved on that, he's fallen to around a .750 OPS, not that great for a corner outfielder. But he picked up a big hit today as he homered with two on and two out in the third to put the Cubs on top. They score four in the inning to take a 4-0 lead over the Cardinals. It was Murton's seventh home run of the season, and only the second with men on.

Vlad Guerrero goes deep in the first inning to plate the only run of the game so far as LAnaheim leads Chicago 1-0 in the third. The home run gives Vlad 25 on the season, the tenth season in a row Vlad reaches 25 home runs. It's also the fourth time he's reached 120 RBI in a season.

Curtis Granderson gets the Tigers off on the right foot with a leadoff home run against the Twins. He's now even in triples and homers with twenty two each.

The Phillies load the bases with two outs in the second inning, but Oliver induces a ground ball to short. Ruiz was cutting in front of Reyes as the ball approached him, and Jose booted the grounder. He recovered and tried to throw to second, but the runner was already safe and the throw goes through Castillo. Two runs score on two errors by Reyes, and the normally sure-handed Mets defense costs them.

Perez continues to walk Phillies, as he walked Rollins to start the game and Eaton to load the bases. He's now walked 14 Phillies in 10 2/3 innings.

The Phillies go for their second consecutive sweep of the Mets this afternoon as Adam Eaton faces Oliver Perez. Eaton, with his 6.31 ERA and 9-9 record might do something historic. Since 1900, Wes Ferrell holds the record for pitcher with the highest ERA and a record of .500 or better, 6.28 in 1938 (min. 162 IP). Eaton, however, may lower that ERA a bit as he's pitched well against the Mets this season, posting a 2-0 record and a 2.89 ERA. On the other hand, Perez has been less than stellar against Philadelphia, losing both his starts, walking twelve in 8 2/3 innings.

Detroit is on a four-game winning streak as they try to catch the Yankees for the AL Wild Card. They send rookie Jair Jurrjens against the Twins and Scott Baker. Like most pitchers who come through the Twins system, Baker keeps his walks allowed low. Jurrjens baffles hitters from the left and right side of the plate. Pitching to contact, he's allowed a .169 batting average so far.

The three teams competing for the NL West title are in action at 4 PM EDT as the Dodgers try to sweep their way to a shot at an NL West title. The Dodgers pitchers have shutdown the Diamondbacks offense this season, posting a 2.93 ERA against Arizona. On the surface, it's not clear why the Dodgers have outscored the Diamondbacks by twelve runs this season. Their batting stats are close. But the Diamondbacks hit just .184 with runners in scoring position against Los Angeles, while the Dodgers managed a .221 BA in that situation.

The Padres and Giants finish up their series in San Diego with rookie Tim Lincecum going against Padres ace Jake Peavy. Peavy and Lincecum are 1-2 in the NL in strikeouts per nine if you lower the requirement to 140 innings. With three starts to go, Tim can qualify for the title if he goes deep in all three starts, or if the Giants bring him back on the last day of the season to pick up the innings he needs.

Finally, it's geezer night in Boston as Clemens faces Schilling. I hate to say this is going to be Clemens last regular appearance at Fenway, because you never know with Roger. Clemens won his last three starts at Fenway during the first retirement tour in 2003, including beating Pedro in the game three of the ALCS. Both pitchers saw a degradation of their K/9 rates, making me believe neither is going to be around much longer.

Enjoy!

Prince Fielder set a new franchise record for home runs last night as his 46th of the season is the new Brewers mark. His teammates are calling for for him to be the Most Valuable Prince:

Prince Fielder's teammates describe him with words such as charismatic, special and unbelievable.

Francisco Cordero has other ideas.
"To me, he's got to be the MVP," Cordero said. "I think Prince is going to be the MVP in the National League."

If recent impressions help the voters decide, then Fielder may indeed get the nod. He's leading the National League in slugging percentage in September, with a very healthy batting average and OBA to go with it (although he's no Jack Wilson). With the Brewers winning last night and the Cubs splitting the double header with St. Louis, Milwaukee is back to one game out in the NL Central. A few more key home runs by Fielder over the last two weeks, and the votes and the division title my fall his way.

(The award should go to Hanley Ramirez or David Wright, although I wouldn't have a problem if Fielder took home the trophy. If Fielder does hit fifty home runs and Ramirez wins the MVP, he'll have two things in common with his dad, hitting 50 homers and losing the MVP award to a power hitting leadoff man.)

The odds of Alex Rodriguez passing Maris are getting longer every day. It looks like he'll only get about sixty two more plate appearances, and with his HR/PA at .08 for the season, the probability of ten more home runs is now just .025, or about 1 in 40. Not low enough to quite count him out, but nothing I'd want to wager on at this point.

The Colorado Rockies had a great chance at moving up in the NL West down the stretch, as they play every one involved in the race. They also host the Marlins at home this weekend. With the second worst record in the NL, Colorado should have been looking to sweep to set themselves up for a strong stretch drive. Instead, they try to avoid being swept today, and it looks like their playoff chances are down to slim.

But Florida is the kind of team that can surprise you that way. They're a poor team with some great players. Miguel Cabrera took charge of the offense last night, picking up three hits, including a three-run homer to amass five RBI on the evening. That was half the Florida run production. Hanley Ramirez reached base three times and scored twice. There are enough stars on that team to make them dangerous, and the Rockies found out the hard way this weekend.

It was a great run for Colorado, and while they still have some hope, Don Pardo is ready to give them the home version of the game and a one year supply of Turtle Wax.

Brett Tomko tossed six fine innings last night, shutting out the Giants for six innings. San Francisco managed just four hits as Tomko didn't walk a batter and struck out five as the Padres went on to a 6-0 victory. In eleven innings with San Diego, Tomko's walked one batter while striking out eleven and posting a 1.64 ERA. Both runs he allowed came on solo homers.

Tomko's former team, the Dodgers, are doing well with ex-Padres pitcher David Wells. He's lowered his ERA from 5.54 with San Diego to 3.91 with Los Angeles. Maybe both pitchers just needed a change of scenery. Even though there was no direct deal, the swap of the two hurlers helped both teams.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Fausto Carmona does Josh Beckett one better by throwing eight shutout innings against the Royals, taking over the American League lead in ERA. His ERA drops to 3.07, while Santana gives up four runs in eight innings to raise his to 3.14. He's had an amazing turnaround from his 1-10 season a year ago, and now he's one of the leading candidates for the Cy Young award. I'm sure his 1.21 ERA down the stretch will impress voters, too.

Josh Beckett allows the Yankees just one run over seven innings, holding the best offense in the majors to three hits and two walks. He gets plenty of support as the Red Sox take the game 10-1 to reduce their magic number to nine. They're also the first team to reach 90 wins.

Beckett, however, not only picks up his major league leading nineteenth win, but reduces his ERA to 3.20. That moves him up four spots in the AL ERA race, from eighth to fourth. That's how tight the top pitchers are packed this season. Santana gave up four runs in the first, so by the time his game is over he may own a higher ERA than Beckett. With so many pitchers posting good ERAs, and so many on pennant contending teams, it's going to be a very tough choice for voters. But in the past they've loved wins, and if Josh leads the AL in that category, he could easily get the nod.

The Dodgers keep gaining the NL West with a 6-2 win over the Diamondbacks. Derek Lowe ended a streak of four poor starts with seven good innings, allowing just one run. The Dodgers could use Lowe returning to form for the last two weeks of the division race. He's been walking more batters lately, but just one this afternoon.

Wang just was credited with a HBP against Kevin Youkilis. However, Kevin was swinging at a pitch, moving his hands into the pitch. Youkilis does crowd the plate, and it was a good inside pitch. Looking at the replay, his hands are almost over the plate. Kevin is out of the game, still tied at one in the fifth.

Update: The HBP leads to a run and a 2-1 Red Sox lead after five innings.

The Phillies hold on to defeat the Mets 5-3 today, their seventh win in a row against New York. They're now 11-6 vs. the Mets this season. They're five games over .500 against all the other teams combined.

At this point, might not the Mets want the Phillies to win the wild card? If the Mets win the East, they would play the wild card team unless it's an eastern team. Meaning they might have to play a pretty good team from the western division. But if the Phillies win the wild card, the Mets likely get the NL Central winner, and given the poor quality of those teams, it would likely give the Mets a better chance of winning the first round. That's the main defect in the current playoff system. It sometimes gives teams a reason not to win.

Roy Halladay pitches seven innings of one-run ball to help the Blue Jays defeat the Orioles 8-3. The win gives Halladay a 110-55 career record, a .667 winning percentage. Roy came up in 1998 and he's fifth in that time among pitchers with 100 decisions.

Jimmy Rollins hits his eighteenth triple to break a 3-3 tie and put the Phillies up 5-3 in the eighth.

With two more triples, Rollins can join Curtis Granderson with 20 doubles, triples and home runs.

Pedro Martinez pitched six strong innings, striking out nine and giving up just one run, but the Phillies got to the bullpen today for four hits, two walks and three runs.

Alfonso Soriano hits a late game home run to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead over the Cardinals. That's his seventh home run in fifteen games this month. Of course, since he's hitting them from the leadoff spot he's only driven in 13 runs.

Update: Cubs win 3-2. Looper pitched a great game, giving up one run in seven innings, striking out five. But the bullpen gave up the big fly to Soriano, and that's all the Cubs needed. They now lead the Brewers by two with another game coming up tonight.

Pedro Martinez seems to be quickly returning to his old form. Through three innings today, he's struck out six and walked none. On the other hand, he has allowed five hits and one run, so he's not quite back 100%.

The Phillies were written off earlier in the week, but they're still in the hunt for the wild card. They'll face a tough opponent today as Pedro Martinez makes his third start of the season. He's only allowed one hit with runners in scoring position this season. Kyle Lohse takes the hill for the Phillies. He hasn't pitched that much better than he did for the Reds, but he's gotten much better run support.

Josh Beckett and Chien-Ming Wang matchup in a battle of 18-6 pitchers. Only one might come out with nineteen wins. Their approaches are very different as Beckett strikes out almost twice as many as Wang, but Chien-Ming allows fewer home runs. Beckett has struck out 18 Yankees in 19 2/3 innings, but they've still managed 30 hits off him. Wang's only struck out 12 in 25 innings against the Red Sox, but he's allowed just 24 hits. The Yankees are doing a better job of getting outs on balls in play.

Johan Santana leads the AL in ERA, but he's reduced to trying to spoil Detroit's playoff hopes this evening. If it wasn't for a career high in home runs allowed, Santana might be posting another sub-3.00 ERA. Yorman Bazardo gets his first major league start. He's struck out eight and walked none in twelve innings of work this season.

Enjoy!

Ken Rosenthal points out how the Yankees and Red Sox are using their financial clout to dominate the foreign free-agent market. He makes the point I made in a recent Baseball Prospectus (subscription required) article that the draft is no longer funneling the best talent to the bad teams. Here's Rosenthal:

Teams can spend on international free agents without restriction, an advantage for high-revenue teams such as the Yankees and Red Sox. The amateur draft, designed to funnel top talent to the weakest teams, instead rewards clubs that are willing to exceed the bonuses recommended by the commissioner's office -- another advantage for you-know-who.

Greater resources allow the Yankees and Red Sox greater margin for error as they pursue high-ceiling talent. Some teams backed off right-hander Joba Chamberlain in 2006 because of injury concerns. Not the Yankees. Other teams backed off right-hander Ian Kennedy because he was represented by Boras. Again, not the Yankees.

In '05, the Boras factor helped the BoSox land right-hander Craig Hansen, who thus far has been a bust. Right-hander Clay Buchholz fell to the Red Sox in the same draft after some teams backed off him due to his arrest in April 2004 for stealing laptop computers from a middle school.

Money also buys increased flexibility in the later rounds. Case in point: Red Sox Class A first baseman Lars Anderson, who was rated a supplemental first-round talent by Baseball America in '06 but fell to the 18th round due to his bonus demands. The Red Sox signed him for $825,000.

None of this is new: The Yankees and Red Sox didn't just start spending heavily on amateur talent.

The difference now is that they're better at it.

The draft restricts the supply of talent to the majors by limiting which players teams can sign. Once players figured out they could extract money from teams by refusing to sign, or saying they were going to college, prices of drafted players started going up, and the whole point of the draft broke down. If teams were able to compete for all players, sure, the rich teams would get the best. But they do anyway. At least the other teams would have a chance to sign the best of the rest, and find the gems the others missed. And with foreign and US players competing on the same level, my guess is the price of signing talent would go down overall. It's time to abolish the draft.

Athletics fans are celebrating the first squeeze play in seven years.

Aaron Gleeman reviews the tenure of Terry Ryan and wonders if Bill Smith will be an improvement or another Wayne Krisvky.

Update: Kevin Towers provides some insight:

"I wasn't that surprised. Terry's one of those guys, just knowing him, he never seemed real happy [as GM]. He was like, 'Being a GM is what it is. If this is what the organization wants me to do, I'll do it.' He could have done it for 40 years, but with Terry, you figured there was a point in time where he'd say, 'I've had enough.'

"He's an honest man with a tremendous integrity, and a great evaluator. The best way I can put it is he's a baseball man."

Alex Rodriguez did not hit a home run last night. Given that he has about 67 plate appearances left, the odds of him hitting ten home runs and breaking Maris' AL single season home run record is .04, or about 1 in 25.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Things worked out well for the massive tie last night. The Dodgers trailed Arizona three times last night and came back in the next half inning to tie twice and take the lead for good on a Nomar Garciaparra opposite field home run. And while Brad Penny didn't pitch his best game, the bullpen pitched four strong innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out four.

Down the coast, the Padres mounted a comeback of their own, using a two-out, ninth inning double by Blum to tie the game and a walk-off home run by Greene in the tenth to win the game. Greene's almost evened out his home runs home and road, but his power remains low at San Diego because he doesn't get many other extra-base hits.

The Phillies won earlier, putting four teams within 4 1/2 games of the NL West/Wild Card lead. Unfortunately for the massive tie, Colorado lost, dropping them 6 1/2 behind Arizona. However, a tie between Arizona, San Diego, Los Angeles and Philadelphia produces two three-team playoffs, so that will be cool enough.

The Yankees, down 7-2 in the top of the eighth, put their first seven men on against Okajima and Papelbon, including back-to-back home runs by Giambi and Cano to start the inning. They've scored six runs so far and take the lead 8-7. The Cubs/Cardinals game has been over for almost an hour, and they're still playing in Boston.

Update: The Yankees are batting in the top of the ninth, and there's a good chance they set the record for longest nine inning game in terms of time.

Update: The game ends at 11:55 PM EDT, one minute short of tying the record as Rivera strikes out Ellsbury for the save. A huge win for New York as they maintain their 3 1/2 game lead over a victorious Detroit and gain a game in the AL East. The game took so long because the Yankees staff threw 190 pitches, while the Red Sox tossed 198.

The Cubs score three in the top of the ninth to extend their lead to 5-1 over the Cardinals. Daryle Ward pinch hits and clears a bases loaded situation with a three run double. He's now 10 for 35 with 10 walks as a pinch hitter on the season. The runs proved to be important as the Cardinals hit two solo home runs in the bottom of the inning, then loaded the bases before Miles grounded out to end the game.

The loss drops St. Louis six games back in the NL Central, and the Cubs magic number to eliminate St. Louis stands at eleven.

Update: The Brewers score two in the bottom of the ninth but it's not enough as they lose to Cincinnati 6-5. That drops Milwaukee 1 1/2 games back in the NL West. Tom Shern goes to 3-0 and as a starter he now has a 3.38 ERA.

Prince Fielder hits his forty fifth home run of the season, reducing the deficit to two as the Reds lead 5-3 in the top of the eighth. With his 1 for 2 tonight, Fielder is hitting .415 in September with six home runs and an .854 slugging percentage. He's five home runs away from repeating his dad's feat of fifty home runs in a season. They'd be the first father-son duo to accomplish that.

After spending three weeks as the league's punching bag, the Baltimore pitching staff throws two good games in a row. That should make Mazzone happy. They go seventeen scoreless innings before Toronto scored two in the ninth tonight. It's not enough as Baltimore wins 6-2.

The Phillies and Mets end nine innings tied at two. The Mets lose Paul Lo Duca, however. He's called out on strikes to end the ninth, argues the call and gets tossed from the game.

Update: Heilman makes the wrong the decision on a bunt. He tries to throw to second, and the ball goes into centerfield. Always get the sure out, especially in the top of the inning. The Phillies have runners at first and second with none out.

Update: Another bunt puts Phillies on second and third, and Dobbs hits a sacrifice fly to deep center to give Philadelphia the lead, 3-2.

Pettitte has Ellsbury picked off as Jacoby attempts to steal second, but Giambi doesn't make a strong throw and Ellsbury is safe with a stolen base. Pedroia then singles in two to make the score 4-1 Boston. I'm not one to get worked up over defense at first, but Giambi's made three bad plays tonight, two of which cost New York runs.

Both teams are really working the pitchers tonight. The game is about two hours old and they're in the bottom of the fourth. The Cubs and Cardinals started an hour later, and they're in the bottom of the fourth also.

Update: Pettitte has a ball go off his glove, a hit, but a play that you expect the slick fielder to make. That scores Pedroia from third and the Red Sox lead 5-1.

Chase Utley homers off Tom Glavine to tie the Phillies-Mets game at two. He's hit three home runs since coming back from his hand injury, two against New York.

Jorge Posada almost doesn't score from second on a triple. Matsui hits a long fly ball down the right field line that Drew just doesn't play well. Maybe Posada thought it was caught, but as the ball came back toward the infield, Jorge was just coming around third. Pedroia rushed the relay throw a bit, but I thought the Red Sox had a good shot at getting Jorge at the plate. The Red Sox lead is down to 2-1.

The Royals get to Sabathia in the fifth scoring four runs on four singles and a Sweeney double. C.C. goes from a 1-0 lead to a 4-1 deficit in short order.

David Ortiz doubles off the wall in left, then Lowell singles hard to center. I was absolutely amazed that the third base coach sent Ortiz. Posada had to wait a second for David to slide into him. Melky picks up his fourteenth assist of the year, and the Red Sox have two outs and a man on second instead of first and third, one out.

Update: Giambi gets eaten up by a hot shot off Drew's bat and the Red Sox score their second run. There's been poor infield defense by the Yankees tonight.

Brandon Phillips and Adam Dunn both drive in two runs against Ben Sheets in the first. Phillips goes the short way, singling after a double steal, while Dunn take Sheets deep to make the score 4-0. The home run puts Dunn at 39 on the season, one away from his fourth straight 40 home run season.

Jacoby Ellsbury singles off Pettitte in the second to drive in the first run of the game. It's been a very small sample size but Ellsbury currently has a .424 OBA and a .633 slugging percentage. You don't want to assume too much in 60 at bats, but he'll get a long look next year in spring training.

I have a blog post at the AT&T Blue Room that should be published soon on why C.C. Sabathia deserves the AL Cy Young award. Click on Sports and Buzz to find my posts there. C.C. is off to a good start tonight, pitching a no-hitter through three innings, walking two and striking out five.

Jeter's made too poor plays in the first inning. He made a bad throw on a ground by Lugo resulting in an error, and just now he booted a double play ground by David Ortiz, only getting an out at first. How he wins Gold Gloves is beyond me.

David Wright hits a home run in the first inning to put the Mets up 1-0 on the Phillies. The Mets third baseman continues to have a fine second half, raising both his OBA and slugging percentages 100 points vs. before the All-Star break.

Dice-K just threw at Jeter's head. He missed. We'll see if he gets suspended. :-)

Update: Matsuzaka hits A-Rod with the first pitch. Now I'm serious. Matsuzaka let a ball get away that almost hit Jeter. He does hit A-Rod. Is it intentional payback for Chamberlain's throws at Youkilis? If nothing else, Dice-K is a bit wild this inning, which could be dangerous to hitters. That's why I thought the ump was right to boot Chamberlain. Whether he meant to throw at Youkilis or not, he showed he was dangerous. How is Matsuzaka different tonight?

For do or die series start tonight, four trailing teams sitting on the edge of the division race have a chance to sweep a division leader and at least make things interesting for the last two weeks of the season. The Yankees visit Boston with Andy Pettitte facing Daisuke Matsuaka. A sweep puts New York 2 1/2 games behind the Red Sox with two weeks to play. I'll be interested to see how many righties Francona starts against Andy. He's a reverse lefty, meaning righties have more trouble with Pettitte than lefties. Dice-K's ERA ballooned since the middle of August. It makes you wonder if the longer MLB season is wearing him down, or if having seem him for a few months, hitters figured out what he's throwing. Maybe the gyroball isn't that special after all.

The Phillies and Mets present the battle of old lefties as Philadelphia attempts to repeat the sweep and close the gap with New York to 3 1/2 games. Jamie Moyer takes on Tom Glavine at Shea. Moyer is showing his age as he's allowed a 6.68 ERA since the all-star break, giving up 87 hits in 62 innings. Glavine, however, found a second wind in the second half, going 6-0 since the All-Star break and not allowing a home run in his last eight starts.

The Cubs and Cardinals start their four game series with their best pitchers on the mound as Carlos Zambrano faces Adam Wainwright. Although, you could argue the way Carlos pitched since signing his new contract, he's not the best on the team anymore. He's been walking a ton of batters lately. Despite all the turmoil in St. Louis, Wainwright put up an impressive first season as a starter. His home run rate is very good, and he's improved in the second half, especially striking out batters. He's someone Cardinals fans can get excited about for 2008.

On the west coast, the Dodgers play three against the Diamondbacks as they sit 5 1/2 games out of first. Doug Davis will try to keep Arizona winning. Although he has a 5-8 record away from home, Davis is much more effective on the road, keeping his home run total low. Brad Penny's done that where ever he pitched, allowing just five on the year and two at Dodger Stadium in 105 2/3 innings.

Enjoy!

Despite the shutout victory last night, the Orioles are falling apart. Apart from the suspensions (it is now officially illegal to throw at the Red Sox), Miguel Tejada wants out:

Asked whether he was OK with the fact that the club might want to get a look at some younger players, Tejada said, "It would be nice. Then I can go somewhere else next year. They have somebody that can play short. That would be nice for me."

When asked if that meant that he wanted to be traded, Tejada said, "It's not like that's what I want, but at least if they have somebody else, they can trade me somewhere else."

Later, given another opportunity by a reporter to clarify his statement, Tejada said that he wasn't saying whether he wanted a trade or not. "That's up to them," he said. "I just work here."

And Mazzone rippled the pitching staff:

"They've been given an opportunity, and the majority of them have not responded," Mazzone said. "I think it's enabling us to see for a fact what kind of depth we really do have. Basically, there is no depth. They're giving us reasons to why they wouldn't fit in as opposed to why they would.

"I mean, golly, we're walking in runs and not being able to get one out or two outs. You're asking somebody to go five innings. If you're here, you should be able to get close to that or do that. It isn't like we're asking you to be a huge part of a machine trying to win a pennant."

So their star shortstop wants to leave and there's no depth to the pitching staff. Doesn't sound like this team is getting better any time soon.

The Cubs and Cardianls have a strong, long-standing rivalry. But they seldom compete head-to-head for the division title:

The regional Cardinals-Cubs rivalry rarely has carried much weight in September.

Only six times during major-league baseball's live ball era (1920-present) have both teams finished among their league or division's top three with both within five games of the lead.

Most recently the Cardinals took a one-game lead over the Cubs into a four-day, five-game series at Wrigley Field in September 2003. The Cardinals lost four of five because of a thin bullpen and entered a free fall that left them 85-77, in third place and three games behind the eventual division champion Cubs.

That year marked only the second instance since the Cubs reached the 1945 World Series that both teams finished within five games of their league or division lead.

This is probably why the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry has a more storied past. While I'm sure the local fan interest is as intense in all four cities, the number of epic battles between New York and Boston captures the interest of fans from far and wide.

As the Yankees and Red Sox meet for their final series of the season, Gordon Edes looks for a term to describe this Boston club:

So, what are we to say about a team when it doesn't collapse, fold, choke, fall apart, crumble, disintegrate, melt, break down, crash and burn, fizzle, flop, or fade?

The language is rich in words to describe failure. The Red Sox have had most of those terms applied to them at times throughout their history. So where are the words to describe what these Sox of 2007 are doing, in the face of the best second half the Yankees have had since Joe Torre became manager in 1996?

Somehow, "hanging on" doesn't quite cut it, not when history's most expensive team rolls into town on an 8-1 tear and has run off a record of 40-20 since the All-Star break, a .667 clip that conjures memories of the .684 pace (54-25) the '78 Yanks played at in erasing a 14-game deficit to overtake the Sox. All that winning, and the Yankees arrive 5 1/2 games behind and needing more than a three-game sweep this weekend to catch the Sox.

How about playing like champions?

Alex Rodriguez failed to hit a home run against Toronto last night, bringing his odds of passing Maris down again. If he plays all sixteen remaining games, Alex should get about 71 more plate appearances. With his home run rate this season .0811 HR/PA, the probability of his hitting at least ten more home runs is 0.06, or about 1 in 16.

A three way tie for the NL Central looks out of the question as the Cardinals start a four game series with the Cubs in St. Louis. The Cardinals are going to need to sweep the Cubs this weekend and the Brewers the last week of the season to make that happen. The way the Cardinals played this season, that's not likely to happen.

The massive tie scenario still exists for the NL West/Wild Card, but as Arizona keeps winning, a tie for the western division becomes less likely. Here's the way to get there with the highest winning percentages:

Team	Record
Rockies	13-3
Dodgers	12-4
Phillies	12-4
Padres	11-6
Diamondbacks	6-9

This requires that the Rockies take four of seven from the Dodgers and sweep everyone else, including three from the Diamondbacks and Padres. The Dodgers also need to sweep the DBacks six games for this to work. It's not the only solution, just the one that produces the highest winning percentage. The more the DBacks lose, the easier it becomes to get the tie.

So this weekend, if you want a massive tie, root for:

• Dodgers sweep the Diamondbacks
• Padres take two of three from the Giants
• Phillies sweep the Mets (might as well make the NL East interesting as well)
• Rockies sweep the Marlins

After they finish with the Marlins, Colorado plays thirteen games against the Dodgers, Padres and DBacks to end the season.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Dodgers are stealing every base they can against the Padres tonight. Coming into the game, the Padres have allowed 163 stolen bases, only catching 19 batters. That means Padres opponents have almost a 90% success rate against the Padres. But it also shows you how meaningless those stolen bases are. Despite not stopping the running game, the Padres have the best ERA in the league by 0.3 runs. Basically, if the team doesn't give up hits, the stolen bases don't hurt that much. Tonight, however, they've allowed the hits to follow, and the Dodgers lead 6-0 in the fifth.

Frank Thomas sends the Yankees to Boston with a loss. He drives in both runs, one in the bottom of the first with a double, then the winning run with a single to center in the ninth. Alex Rios set it up by reaching on a single and stealing a base.

Neither starter received a decision, but both Kennedy and Burnett pitched great games. Kennedy allowed just one run on one hit over 7+ innings. He did walk four but struck out seven, at one point retiring fifteen in a row. Burnett's only mistake was a home run to Damon that tied the game. He went eight, striking out eight. The Yankees winning streak ends at seven.

The Baltimore Orioles shut out the LAnaheim Angels 3-0. Over their last 21 games, the Orioles pitching has been awful. The best they've done is allowing three runs in a game. But even with the A-team playing tonight, the Angels were unable to score against Jon Leicester and three relievers. Five hits and three walks were all the Angels could manage, losing a chance to gain 1/2 game on the Red Sox for best record.

On a more serious note, it is the Orioles 9th shutout of the season, which is tied for fifth in the majors. The last was the 12-0 win against the Yankees on August 14th. Maybe it's a good sign for a pitcher staff that's suffered a terrible month.

Alfonso Soriano leads off the Cubs-Astros game with a home run as Chicago tries to take a half game lead on the idle Brewers. Since his return from the DL, Soriano isn't getting on base much, but he continues to hit for power.

Update: Ramirez adds a three-run shot as the first four Cubs reach base and score.

J.D. Durbin gets off to a rough start against Colorado as the Rockies bat around in the first and score three times. Threes were wild in the inning as Durbin gave up three hits and three walks, but also struck out three. The Rockies are off to a good start in trying to move past Philadelphia in the wild card standings.

Update: Francis gets off to a rougher start than Durbin. The Phillies score four runs with two outs to make the Rockies lead a short lived one.

In case you missed it, Johan Santana leads the AL in ERA. If the lead holds, it will be the third year in the last four Santana came out on top.

Albert Pujols doubles and scores in the ninth, but the Cardinals fall a run short and the Reds take the game 5-4. The Reds are now three games behind St. Louis after the sweep, and the Cardinals losing streak goes to seven. They still have four games with the Cubs and three with the Brewers, but St. Louis is going to need to win all of them if they're going to catch the leaders in the NL Central.

Basically, Ryan says it's the right time to go and thanked everyone from the owner to the bat boy.

Update: Here's a roundup from the Star-Tribune on the reorganization of the Twins.

Through four innings, Aaron Harang has thoroughly out-pitched Kip Wells. Aaron's allowed one hit and no walks. Kip's allowed six hits and five walks. But the games is tied at one. St. Louis has turned two double plays, but that's still a lot of men on base producing just one run. None of the Reds hits have been for extra bases, so the runners aren't being moved very far.

Update: Three well placed extra-base hits in the fifth break the dam in the fifth. Two doubles, a walk and a home run plate four and put the Reds up 5-1.

According to reports, Twins GM Terry Ryan will resign this afternoon:

The 52-year-old Ryan is resigning after 12 seasons. The Minneapolis Star Tribune, citing three unnamed sources with the team, first reported the story on its Web site. The Twins have called a news conference for Thursday afternoon to announce a "major" reorganization of their baseball operations.

Team spokesman Mike Herman wouldn't discuss details when reached by The Associated Press. ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney and the AP also are reporting Ryan's decision.

Longtime assistant GM Bill Smith will succeed Ryan, the Star Tribune reported. Smith has been club vice president/assistant GM for the last 13 of his 22 seasons with the organization.

It's not clear if Ryan is being forced out or is leaving of his own accord. I'd be fairly shocked if he were forced out since overall he's done a very good job with the team. Maybe he's had enough of cheap ownership, and with other jobs available, he thinks he can do better elsewhere.

I didn't realize until I looked at the St. Louis pre-game boxscore what a great season Kip Wells is having at the plate. He should be batting second, not eighth. :-)

Take two losing teams, put them in a stadium nobody likes on a hot, humid Wedesday afternoon and what do you get? No fans. Someone counted 375 people.

OMG someone counted them. The sad part is that the count is probably pretty accurate. If you don't believe it, take a look for yourselves.

JRS yesterday.

The attendance was so small that even a fan got tossed for heckling the umpire.

FishStripes asks if a new stadium will really change things. In my opinion, not until the team wins. Unless, of course, the new stadium is in a city that actually wants a baseball team. The Havana Marlins, anyone?

The Rockies and Phillies find themselves tied for second in the NL Wild Card race as they finish up their four game series in the city of brotherly love. Colorado ace Jeff Francis tries to extend yesterday's shutout. His ERA is lower on the road, but due to many fewer hits allowed rather than many more home runs. J.D. Durbin takes the hill for Philadelphia. Five of the six home runs hit against Durbin this season came in Philadelphia.

The Yankees go for their eighth win in a row and a 4 1/2 game deficit as they head into Boston against the Blue Jays tonight. Ian Kennedy has baffled lefties so far, allowing five hits in twenty two at bats. A.J. Burnett continues his second half surge as he's allowed just nine earned runs in his last 42 2/3 innings, holding opponents to a .146 batting average in that time.

It's bobble belly night in Los Angeles as David Wells hosts Greg Maddux. Wells is 2-0 since joining the Dodgers, and opponents who were ripping him for a .322 BA when he was with San Diego are now just hitting .262 against him as a member of the Dodgers. Maddux is 5-1 with a 2.32 ERA since he decided walks were a bad thing.

Enjoy!

No home runs for Alex Rodriguez last night, knocking the long shot odds down a bit again. If he plays all seventeen remaining games, Alex should get about 76 more plate appearances. With his home run rate this season .0816 HR/PA, the probability of his hitting at least ten more home runs is 0.08944, or about 1 in 11.

Troy Glaus requires surgery on his foot to decompress a nerve. He'll miss the rest of the season and reporters asking him questions about steroids. With Toronto's elimination number down to seven after losing the first two games of the series to the Yankees, there's not much he's going to do for the team at this point.

The Arizona Diamondbacks took a huge step toward making the playoffs last night as they defeated the Giants 9-4. The DBacks nine runs in the game increased their scoring in San Francisco 64%:

In eight games entering Wednesday night, they had scored a total of 14 runs in this ballpark. Not surprisingly, they lost six of those games.

So it was somewhat jarring to first see Mark Reynolds and Chris Snyder hammer back-to-back home runs in the second inning, then watch the Diamondbacks come back two innings later to score four times and take command of a game they won 9-4 in front of 37,083.

Arizona's two nearest competitors for the playoffs both lost, as San Diego fell to Los Angeles and Colorado defeated Philadelphia. Arizona's magic number to clinch a wild card berth is down to eleven. A massive tie for the Western division is looking shaky, but one for the Wild Card is pretty good as three teams trail San Diego by 2 1/2 games.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Cobra Brigade loved the end of the Cubs game last night.

If you missed this game because you had better things to do, you are going to be kicking yourself. Wow! What an ending. A 3-6-1 double play to end the game after they had a runner on 3rd with no outs!?!? I'm not even certain I would have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes. I nearly had a heart attack, twice. Holy crap. Did you see Piniella after the game? I thought he was either going to punch every player on the team or give them a bear hug. He was out of control. This was, of course, right after he came out to the mound and told everyone to 'Relax!' Do as I say and not as I do, I guess....Wow!

It was exactly the type of game you expect the Cubs to lose as they fall apart in the ninth. The Astros fail to get the tying run home from third with no outs, and the Cubs go back into a tie with the Brewers. Interestingly, with Lamb at third and the infield in, Scott hit a slow roller to third on the first pitch. The ball was hit slowly enough that Lamb might have scored if he broke with the ball, but he just didn't get a good read on it. Scott swung hard, just didn't hit the ball hard.

James Loney's bat is traveling on Thunder Road right now. He's hit a double and a homer in two at bats tonight, driving in two runs and scoring two. That gives him sixteen hits in his last ten games with five homers and five doubles. The Dodgers lead the Padres 4-1 in the fifth.

David Ortiz is back. He hit two home runs tonight, the second a two-run shot with one out in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 5-4. It was a very high fly ball into the first row of the seats in right. Delmon Young seemed to lose track of the ball; it was the kind of fly that he could have leaped and caught if he was in the right position. Ortiz drives all five runs and now has 40 RBI in his last 39 games.

For the seventh time in their last twenty one games, the Baltimore Orioles allowed more than ten runs in a game. The Angels lead 16-6 in the eighth inning. You might think they are going for a record, but for the whole season they've only allowed ten runs or more fifteen times, including tonight. Tampa Bay played twenty two such games so far this season. With Baltimore, it's just another piece of their recent swoon.

And while the Angels are winning big, they should be a bit concerned with Kelvim Escobar. He allowed six runs in 5 2/3 innings tonight, the third rough outing in a row for him. Over his last five appearance, he's only pitched well once, giving up a 6.43 ERA in that time.

Brandon Phillips hit his 29th home run and stole his 30th base tonight, leaving him one home runs shy of the 30-30 club. Now, I don't really care about the stolen base home runs combinations. If you hit thirty homers, I don't care how many bases you steal. But Phillips is a fantastic thief. Over the past two season he's stolen fifty five bases while getting caught ten times. So his running is really adding runs to the Reds offense.

The Colorado Rockies started Denny Bautista tonight, someone who pitched poorly in his 5 2/3 innings of work so far. He just went two tonight, which was the plan, and allowed no runs. Redman continued that fine work while the Rockies offense teed off on Kendrick and Ennis. The Rockies are up 11-0 in the eighth.

Matt Holliday hit his 30th home run tonight, and for the third straight year has improved all three of his averages (BA/OBA/Slugging).

This will give Colorado at least a split with the Phillies. They play all the wild card contenders down the stretch, and if they can keep winning series (they beat San Diego 2 out of 3), they'll have a decent chance of making the playoffs. It would help to sweep one of these teams, however.

The Tigers gain a game in the AL Central with a 5-1 win over the Texas Rangers. Justin Verlander supplied the power from the mound, striking out seven in seven innings while walking one. Sheffield and Ordonez supplied the power from the plate, account for all five runs with a two-run and three-run homer respectively. They're now 5 1/2 games back in the Central.

Mike Mussina made a successful return to the rotation tonight, lasting 5 2/3 innings, giving up no runs. He ran out of gas in the sixth, giving up a walk and two hits, but did induce a double play. He only struck out one, however. You don't want to see him doing that too often, as balls in play tend to turn into hits. I'd appreciate anyone who saw the game commenting on Mussina's performance. Did he get outs because he was keeping the hitters off balance, or was he just lucky?

If you missed tonight's show, you can hear the recorded version here. It's also available on demand at TPSRadio.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

Gil Meche leads the Royals past the Twins as Kansas City wins 6-3 this afternoon. Meche struck out seven and walked one in 6 2/3 innings and kept Minnesota off the scoreboard until the seventh. That lowers his ERA to 3.78, matching his career low from his 85 2/3 innings 2000 season. And while his record now stands at four games under .500, Gil certainly lived up to his contract. He's set a career high in innings pitched while allowing fewer walks, homers and runs than last year. If and when Kansas City's offense gets in gear, this type of season will produce a winning record.

The Pirates comeback with three runs in the bottom of the eight off Derrick Turnbow to defeat the Brewers 7-4. Derrick gave up two hits and two walks to raise his ERA to 4.48. There's a big disconnect between Turnbow's ERA and his batting average allowed, .183. He's allowed a .353 batting average with runners in scoring position, which is a big reason for the disconnect.

Jim Thome hit his 499th career home run this afternoon to give the White Sox a 2-1 lead over the Indians. He's looking to become the twenty-third player to crack the 500 home run level, and the third this season. It looks like Manny Ramirez, the other player with a good shot at 500, will need to wait until next year.

Tom Gorzelanny gave two runs over 6 2/3 innings this afternoon, leaving the game with a 4-2 lead. Despite giving up six hits and three walks, he was able to keep the Brewers in check by inducing three double plays and holding the Brewers to an 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position. The latter is how he's managed to be so successful this season. With the 0 for two, opponents are hitting just .208 against Tom in that situation.

The Brewers scored one in the 8th, and now trail Pittsburgh 4-3 as they still threaten.

Update: Hart triples off Chacon to tie the game. Gorzelanny won't get a decision today.

For Baseball Prospectus subscribers, my latest column looks at the changes in demand that led to teams carrying more pitchers on the active roster.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out TPSRadio's other sports programming as well.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post or during the show in the TPSRadio chat room and I'll be happy to answer it on the air. If you visit the site during the 8 PM hour, you should see me on video in the upper right-hand corner. Just click on the box to watch and listen.

Derek Nelson looks at how Ryan Braun's 2007 rookie campaign compares to other great ones of recent memory.

The Brewers try to maintain their lead in the NL Central as send David Bush against Tom Gorzelanny. Tom is 5-1 with a 3.27 ERA since the start of August, and he's allowed just four home runs in his last 44 innings pitched. Bush has an extreme reverse platoon difference this season, holding lefties to a .237 batting average but allowing a .330 BA to righties.

Jon Lester gets a crack at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays tonight. And while Lester's recovery from cancer provides a heart-warming story, his record is certainly out of line with his pitching ability. Lester is now 11-2 for his career over 23 starts, but with a 4.65 ERA. He's received some defensive support as he's never allowed an unearned run, and plenty of offensive support. The Red Sox score 7.12 runs per 9 innings with Jon on the mound. Lester walks a lot of batters and gives up a lot of hits. I'm glad he's doing well, but his record is more a result of his teammates than his accomplishments.

Just to show how desperate the Rockies are for a starter, Denny Bautista takes the mound tonight with a 19.06 ERA. Yes, it's only over 5 2/3 innings, but his career ERA will get you a Slurpee, 7.11. He'll face Kyle Kendrick, the rookie who saved the Phillies season. Despite a very low K per 9, Kendrick posts a 3.78 ERA. He keeps his walks low so the hits don't hurt him too much.

Enjoy!

The AL team with the best record gets to choose if it wants an extra-day off in the first round of the playoffs:

In recent years, one of the four postseason series had an extra off day between Games 1 and 2, and it alternated leagues in the series that didn't involve a wild-card team.

Because there is an extra off day between Games 4 and 5 under the new postseason television schedule this year, it means that the series with the extra off day between the first two games would be played over eight days. Because of that, teams in that series would be able to use their Game 1 and 2 starters on full rest for Games 4 and 5.

It's a nice wrinkle. If a team's 1-2 starters are really strong, but 3-4 are much weaker, they might want the extra-day off. If the starters are fairly even, but the opponent has a strong 1-2, you might not want the extra day off. For example, I could see Boston not taking the extra day if they finish with the best record, so they don't' have to see either Sabathia and Carmona or Lackey and Escobar on normal rest twice.

Alex Rodriguez did not homer last night. Given his stats this season, he should come to the plate eighty more times in 2007. With a home run rate of .0821 per plate appearance, the probability of him hitting at least ten more home runs in those eighty PA is .1192.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Chicago White Sox front office doesn't blame Ozzie Guillen for the 2007 debacle:

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen spoke patiently after agreeing to a contract extension that secures his services through 2012.

I don't think you should fire a manager for one bad year, but I also don't think you should be stuck with him for five more years, either. What's tough to judge at this was whether 2005 or 2007 was the anomalous year. If 2007 is the outlier, it's a good move.

Hanley Ramirez knocked out two home runs and a double Tuesday night to bring his extra-base hit total for the season to seventy-seven. It's very likely he'll end the year with eighty or more extra-base hits. There was a time when that was an impressive accomplishment. Take a look at the period from 1982-1992, the eleven non-strike seasons leading up to the offensive boom of the 1990s:

Players with 80+ extra base hits, 1982-1992

Player	Season	EXBH
Robin Yount	1982	87
Kevin Mitchell	1989	87
Don Mattingly	1985	86
Don Mattingly	1986	86
Cal Ripken Jr.	1991	85
George Bell	1987	83
Hal McRae	1982	81
Mark McGwire	1987	81
Juan Samuel	1987	80
Dave Parker	1985	80
Howard Johnson	1989	80

Just one dozen players accomplished the deed, and three of those came in the big home run year of 1987. From 1993 to 2006, players reached 80 extra-base hits 112 times, including three such seasons in the strike shortened 1995 season. (We've had two reach that level already in 2007.) Twenty years ago, a season like this would win Hanley the MVP, now it's a common occurrence.

Luke Scott doubles with a man on first in the bottom of the eleventh to send the Cubs to a 5-4 defeat. It was the first hit for the Astros since the bottom of the sixth as the Cubs bullpen allows just two hits in their 5 1/3 innings of work. The Astros relievers walked six in six innings, but didn't allow a run. Lidge walked the bases loaded in the eleventh, but the Cubs couldn't convert as Jones flied out to end the inning.

The loss drops Chicago one game behind the Brewers in the NL Central.

Given tonight's performance, Vlad Guerrero appears to be pretty healthy. He homered twice to lead the Angels to a 10-5 win over the Orioles. It's his fourth multi-homer game of the season, all since August 1st.

So far four teams have scored at least thirteen runs today. The Rangers defeated the Tigers this afternoon 13-6, the Red Sox are up 16-9 on the Devil Rays, Florida took Washington 13-8 and the Braves defeated the Mets 13-5. That makes the Angels offense look week as they only managed ten runs against the Orioles!

In the history of the Day by Day Database (back to 1957), there was a day with six thirteen-runs games, June 9, 1999. Four such contests tie for second in that time period. It also happened earlier this season on July 29, 2007.

The Red Sox just keep pounding the Devil Rays. They're batting in the seventh, and three of the four hitters so far hit massive shots, Ortiz and Drew for homers, Youkilis a double off the wall in center. The Red Sox lead 16-9 and they don't look like they'll let up any time soon.

Yovani Gallardo goes six scoreless innings against the Pirates as the Milwaukee Brewers take the game 6-1. It's his second straight game with a short shutout (six scoreless innings or more), and his fourth in seventeen major league starts. The Brewers will at least maintain a share of first place in the NL Central.

The Red Sox found themselves down 8-1 in the fourth, but with a bases loaded triple, Kevin Youkilis puts the Red Sox on top 12-9 in the bottom of the sixth. He hit one to the edge of the scoreboard in center, and it hit just right to ricochet back into center by Upton to clear the bases. Kevin scores on a Crisp double and the Sox score their 13th run. After last night's 1-0 game, all the hits are coming out tonight.

I didn't see the game, but Phil Hughes pitched six good inning in Toronto. He allowed one run and three hits while walking three. But he only struck out one. Given his high strikeout rate this season, I'm wondering why? Was he doing something different tonight so the Jays were making contact, but poor contact? The Yankees lead 8-2 in the eighth inning.

The Rangers defeat the Tigers 13-6,with David Murphy missing the cycle by a single. The Tigers fall to four games back in the wild card race, and five games down in the AFILC. The Yankees now have two games in hand, and so while
Detroit has more days off down the stretch, the Yankees lead is big enough to lose those two extra games.

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David Murphy homered for the Rangers today, and in his brief period playing with Texas is putting up good averages. He turned Gagne into two good young players in Murphy and Gabbard, not a bad use of free agency and the trading deadline.

Marlon Byrd just hit his second home run of the game, and Texas leads Detroit 6-0 in the top of the fifth.

Update: Saltalamacchia also homers in the fifth to make the score 9-0. Another nice trade for Daniels. Vazquez follows with the fifth home run of the game fro Texas. Since the trading deadline, the Rangers are 21-15.

Joe Maddon gave Scott Kazmir a good pep talk last night:

What did surprise Kazmir was what Maddon told him. The skipper wanted Kazmir to treat this like a playoff game. Given that the Devil Rays have no shot at the postseason, Maddon wanted him to practice what a playoff situation could feel like. The result? Ellsbury struck out swinging and Alex Cora grounded into a force play. Kazmir was out of the inning, and his bullpen held off the Sox for a 1-0 victory.

"It jacked me up," said Kazmir, referring to the pep talk. "It really did. It pumped me up. I was going on adrenaline to begin with. That intensified it, I guess you could say.

I like what Maddon did there. The Devil Rays suffered through a poor season, but they're playing well to finish, and Joe is putting the idea into their heads that this can be a playoff team, too. Nice work.

Does anyone have game by game ratings for the LDS and the LCS? Wikipedia has World Series ratings on a game by game basis going back about ten years, but no LCS or LDS. If you know of a web site with the data, or you kept track of it, I'd love to see it.

Thanks.

Vegas Watch notes that the change in the playoff schedule provides room for the first round to move from five to seven games. He does the math and finds that the odds of the best teams winning in seven instead of five don't change that much, so it would be a way of raising revenue. I'll have more on this later.

There are only two games today in which teams vying for a playoff spot go head to head. The Rockies and Phillies play game two of their four game series, and it looks to be a slugfest. Franklin Morales and Adam Eaton both own ERAs over 6.00. Morales, in his four starts, has walked more batters than he's struck out. Eaton holds the third higest ERA in the majors since June 1, 6.67.

The best game of the day takes place in Los Angeles where the Padres and Dodgers start their final series of the season. Los Angeles trails San Deigo by 2 1/2 games in the wild card race, so they need the sweep to pass the Padres. Ace Jake Peavy goes against late pick-up Esteban Loaiza. Peavy's last start was on three days rest and went badly, but he's going tonight with five days off. Loaiza makes his second start for the Dodgers. In three games this season he's held opponents to six runs in 21 2/3 innings. He's not striking out many batters, but he's walking even fewer. Given the park, the teams and the pitchers, expect a low scoring, close game.

Enjoy!

The Mariners debacle continued last night as they lost for the fourteenth time in sixteen games, 9-3 to the Oakland Athletics. Horacio Ramirez didn't get out of the second in the shortest outing by a Mariner starter in that time. That's surprising see how poorly those starters pitched over this time. It was the fourth game in a row in which a starter allowed at least five runs, and overall during the streak, the Mariners starters are posting a 6.67 ERA. They're suffering whiplash by allowing over two home runs per nine innings, and by only striking out five per nine, the opposition batting average is up to .326. Unlike the Diamondbacks, the bullpen is even worse, but that's what happens when they're called on for over three innings a game night after night.

The Diamondbacks won another game with a comeback last night.

A quick recap of how their current six-game win streak has transpired. First, they beat Padres co-aces Chris Young and Jake Peavy on consecutive nights last week, stunting San Diego's momentum and changing the course of the National League West division race.

Then, they beat St. Louis in stunning fashion on Saturday, coming back from a 7-3 deficit. The next day, they come back again, rallying from down 4-2 in the seventh inning to complete a series sweep.

But their encore on Monday was even better. Trailing 3-2 in a game they seemed certain to lose after a second-inning base-running gaffe, they were down to their final out in the ninth.

Stephen Drew led off the inning with a double but was still at third with two out when Justin Upton drew a walk. The pitcher's spot due up, Melvin sent up Salazar, who before the game said his ankle wasn't healthy enough to play the outfield but would be OK for an at-bat.

Salazar quickly got ahead 2-0 against Hennessy before drilling a fastball over the high wall in right field. He couldn't have picked a better time for his first home run with the Diamondbacks.

The bullpen deserves a lot of credit during this six game streak. The starters have allowed MVP numbers to the hitters, .305/.403/.534 BA/OBA/Slug. But the bullpen keeps the team in the game, allowing averages of .169/.258/.253, few hits and no power. And that's been enough to give the offense a chance.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Bengie Molina just hit his second home run of the game, both hard shots off Livan Hernandez. That gives him five home runs in seven September games. He hasn't hit more than four in any other month this season. The Giants lead 3-0 in the bottom of the fourth.

Tim Hudson pitched a good game, but Oliver Perez pitched better, with the Mets walking away with a 3-2 win over the Braves. Perez goes 4-1 against Atlanta this season, striking out 32 in 32 2/3 innings and posting a 3.03 ERA. The Mets magic number over the Braves is now ten as they lead by 9 1/2 games. Atlanta is now five games out in the wild card, but there are six teams ahead of them. At 73-71, the Braves, for the first time since 1990, have to worry about finishing over .500.

Correction: Sorry, they finished under .500 last year. It's back to the 1980s!

Utley, Burrell and Howard batted 2-3-4 tonight, and those three were responsible for a 6-5, ten inning win over the Rockies. Utley reached base three times and scored twice, including the winning run. Burrell and Howard each went deep, Pat tying the game in the seventh with a three-run homer. And Howard doubled down the left field line to bring Chase home in the tenth and win the ballgame. It's a strong heart of the order, the three combining for 84 home runs and 297 RBI.

The hitters didn't hit and the pitchers didn't pitch as the Brewers fall to the Pirates 9-0 in the steel city tonight. The Brewers used five pitchers, each of which gave up at least one run. Somewhat impressively, the Pirates picked up fifteen hits despite striking out nine times. The Pirates were 15 for 27 when putting the ball in play tonight. Milwaukee falls back into a tie with the Cubs, and the Cardinals remain three games out in the NL Central.

Scott Kazmir pitched a very good game tonight, shutting out the Red Sox for seven innings while striking out ten. Boston didn't have their best lineup on the field as Manny is still on the self and Ortiz and Drew didn't play. It was a rather strange lineup, with Lugo at DH, Pedroia batting third and Lowell hitting cleanup. I would have led off with Ellsbury and batted Youkilis second.

And Schilling get saddled with the loss despite a very good outing. He allowed just one run over six innings, striking out five. If nothing else, Schilling's start gives hope that he'll be good for the playoffs. Tampa Bay wins 1-0, and is keeping hope alive that they'll reach 70 wins this season.

Roy Halladay stood one out away from a complete game victory in Detroit tonight. The Blue Jays led 4-1 going to the bottom of the ninth, and Roy gave up a single to start the inning, then induced a double play, the third of the night turned by Toronto. But Roy's pitch count was high (123 when he left the game), and he gave up two more singles to bring the tying run to the plate and Janssen into the contest. He pitched to four batters, giving up three singles and a walk, the last single to Ordonez with the bases loaded to win the game 5-4. It's a huge win for the Tigers as they gain a half game on the idle Yankees in the AL Wild Card race.

Ordonez's game winner was his fourth hit of the night, raising his batting average to .359. That gives him an eight point lead on Suzuki as Seattle gets underway in a late game.

Correction: Fixed games gained.

Wily Mo Pena blasted two home runs for the Nationals so far tonight. That give him seven homers in seventy one at bats for Washington, or about one every ten at bats. If he can keep that up next season, he'll be looking at sixty dingers on the year. The Nationals lead the Marlins 4-2 in the sixth.

Todd Helton almost saves a run. With a man on second and two outs, Utley pulls a ball down the first base line. Helton was playing well off the line, but reacts quickly, runs, dives, and has the ball go off his glove into foul territory. Ruiz scores from second, and the Phillies take a 1-0 lead after three. An impressive effort, and Todd just missed keeping the game scoreless by a hair.

Update: Helton makes up for it by doubling and scoring in the top of the fourth. With the bases loaded, Torrealba hit a ball deep to right, and a fan reaches over the fence and touches the ball. It's not interference, there's no way a fielder could have caught it. It would have hit the front of the fence. So the umps called it a double, and after conferencing, they decide the call is right. That gives the Rockies a 2-1 lead. A tough call, but I think it was the right one.

Ted Lilly pitches seven strong innings as the Cubs defeat the Cardinals 12-3. As he's done in the ballpark all year, Ted kept his walks low (0) so the home runs don't hurt him too badly (he gave up two today). The Cardinals run at the Central is going south fast. If the Brewers win this evening, St. Louis falls four games back in the division.

One of the things I loved about Graig Nettles was his ability to hit a home run after a pitcher threw a brush-back pitch. Lilly just came in high and tight on So Taguchi, and on the next pitch So takes him deep. That's a much better way of getting revenge than charging the mound. The Cubs lead 7-3 in the middle of the sixth.

Derrek Lee homers leading off the fourth inning to put the Cubs up 2-1. Lee's done a good job against the Cardinals this season. He's now scored 15 runs in twelve games against St. Louis.

Update: Aramis Ramirez homers to make the score 3-1. DeRosa singles and scores on a Jones double. Pineiro is getting in trouble here in the fourth, down 4-1.

Update: Kendall doubles, the fourth extra-base hit of the inning, and the Cubs take a commanding 5-1 lead.

Update: Lilly doubles. Pineiro just doesn't have it this afternoon. He's out of the game as the Cubs take a 6-1 lead. That's the first extra-base hit of Ted Lilly's career.

Jim Edmonds gets a ball in the air off Lilly, and he gets enough of it to pull it over the fence. The Cubs and Cardinals are tied at one in the top of the second.

With two outs, Derrek Lee matches Albert Pujols by delivering a double. Unlike Ankiel, however, Cliff Floyd knocks out a single to plate the first baseman. The Cubs draw first blood, leading 1-0 in the bottom of the first.

The Cardinals are getting the ball in the air against Ted Lilly, but the wind is blowing in today at Wrigley. Pujols drives a ball into the opposite gap for a double, but the other two fall into the glove of Soriano. Lilly gets out of the inning without allowing a run.

According to MetsBlog.com, the Mets hired Pedro Martinez's trainer to keep the two close for the rest of the season. I hope they vetted him thoroughly. This sort of thing led to trouble in the past (see Barry Bonds).

The Devil Rays have three affiliates doing well in the post-season. That's a very good sign for the future of the organization.

Sometimes I get these things right. From April 17, 2007:

I missed Bill James' Q & A to the class since I got the time wrong, but saw a very nice presentation on the minor leagues by Andy Andres, Tony Massarotti and Ted Trey (owner of the Worcester Tornadoes). Afterward, a few of us were talking with Bill and he asked how many wins the Yankees would earn this year. I thought 90 to 95, but most thought I was over estimating based on the New York pitching. But tonight is a perfect example of my argument. The offense is so good, the pitching staff just needs a 4.50 ERA for a big season. Chase Wright comes up, gives them five innings, and allows three runs. Meanwhile, the offense just bombs Jake Westbrook, chasing him from the game after 1 2/3 innings. That score held up through seven innings so far. This staff just needs to be okay, and my opinion is they're good enough.

Now, that group was made up mostly of Red Sox fans, but still they represented a nice set of intelligent baseball researchers. As of today, if the Yankees can maintain a .566 winning percentage, they'll finish with 92 wins. The team's ERA is 4.51.

Of course, now that I've written this they'll probably go on a losing streak and end up with 89 wins. :-)

Royals Authority wants Kansas City to play the call-ups:

I understand the idea that the Royals are in a position to play "spoiler" down the stretch. So it's important they field a major league caliber team. But didn't Brazell earn his call-up by slaughtering Triple-A pitching? Huber was, once upon a time, a prospect. And Phillips won't give you better at bats than Jason LaRue?

My point is, if you play those guys against the Yankees it's not like we're going to hear about it from Red Sox fans. All of the call-ups are guys who deserve a look down the stretch. Odds are, they're better than what the Royals currently have on their roster.

But unless they play, we'll never know.

Joba Chamberlain's father Harlan attended the Yankees games in Kansas City this weekend. If you haven't heard the story, Tyler Kepner provides a glimpse into Harlan in this post. There's more at Bronx Banter.

The Cardinals and Cubs make up a postponed game at Wrigley today as Joel Pineiro faces Ted Lilly. Pineiro's represents one of the best trades of the season, as he's gone 4-2 with a 3.63 ERA for a Cardinals rotation that needed a boost. Lilly's posted a 3.60 ERA against St. Louis this season, but he lost two of his three starts by two runs or less.

Colorado trails Philadelphia by one game in the wild card race as the Rockies try to leap frog into second place in that sprint to the playoffs. Ubaldo Jimenez takes on Kyle Lohse. Ubaldo should be pretty good away from Coors as he strikes out more and allows fewer home runs, but so far he's walked too many batters, leading to a higher ERA. Lohse is 2-0 since leaving the Reds as the Phillies are able to provide him with enough run support for a pitcher with an ERA in the fours to win.

Scott Kazmir takes on Curt Schiling in Boston as Tampa Bay tries to continue to finish on an up-note this season. They are 20-17 since August 1st, and a sweep of the Red Sox means they won't lose 100 games this season. For his career, Scott owns a 2.82 ERA vs. the Red Sox and has two short shutouts against them in 2007, although he did not get a decision in either game. Schilling's only struck out 17 in 37 innings since returning from the DL, something that will lessen his chances of big money as a free agent this winter.

Enjoy!

Yesterday I wondered if Bonderman's elbow had been bothering him for a while. The answer is not good:

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland said the team will probably shut down the right-hander because of a nagging elbow injury that is not getting better. "This guy is a trooper and wanted to go out there for us," Leyland said Sunday after the Seattle Mariners beat Detroit 14-7. "But he's not right."

Bonderman (11-9) gave up six runs and seven hits in 1 1-3 innings -- matching the shortest outing of his five-year career -- in what might end up being his final outing of the season.

"I wanted to go out and give it a chance," he said. "I didn't really help anybody -- myself or the team."

Bonderman is scheduled to have his elbow examined on Monday.

"It's frustrating, but at least now we're going to find out a reason why this is happening," he said. "I've had it for a while, and it's been getting worse over a period of time.

Arizona didn't do much to help the massive tie scenario over the weekend as they swept the Cardinals and made the chances of a big pileup less likely. But with three weeks to go, the situation is still fluid, and there is a chance of two massive ties. The Brewers, Cubs and Cardinals are only separated by three games, so there's plenty of chances for a three-way tie in that division. Getting a big NL Wild Card/West tie will take a bit more work. Here's a scenario in which five teams tie for the Wild Card, with a four team tie for the West:

Team	Record
Rockies	16-4
Dodgers	15-4
Phillies	15-5
Padres	13-7
Diamondbacks	9-9

This is the best winning percentage scenario, and in order to work, all four Rockies losses come against the Dodgers. It's not the only answer, and the fewer games the Diamondbacks win, the easier this is to pull off. Also, the same holds for a four way tie between the wild card contenders, which at this point should be a bit easier to get.

The Indians and Angels split their four game series, which keeps LAnaheim in second place in the race for home field advantage, one game up on Cleveland. Despite three lopsided victories, the series was quite even, with the Indians outscoring the Angels 17-16 over the four games. A playoff series between the two would be a lot of fun. Right now, it's more likely to happen in the ALCS than the ALDS, but I could see these two teams going down to the ninth inning of game seven.

The also split the season series 5-5, with LAnaheim topping Cleveland 40-36 in runs scored. The Indians drew more walks and hit more homer runs, but they also struck out a lot more, 82-55. That allowed the Angels to out-hit them 94-80. The teams use two different offensive philosophies, and I'd like to see them go head-to-head in a seven game series.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Vegas Watch analyzes the closers likely to pitch in October this season.

The shoulder roll explained.

The Orioles King Lear season continues as Jeremy Guthrie goes down with an injury:

Guthrie needed just one warm-up pitch to conclude that he couldn't go on, and his largely successful season, one that saw him go from waiver-wire pickup to one of the most dominating starters in the American League in the season's first half, was probably over.

A strained left oblique injury forced the rookie right-hander to leave the Orioles' eventual 3-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox in the series finale before an announced 39,234 on a beautiful afternoon at Camden Yards.

Guthrie had been pitching poorly lately, giving up eleven home runs since the start of August as opposed to the twelve he allowed through the end of July. Maybe this has been bothering him for a while and just came to a head today.

With the Rangers sweeping the Atheltics, the two western division rivals are now in a virtual tie for last in the AL West. This has to give Ron Washington a bit of schadenfreude right now. I'm sure he'd love to finish a few games ahead of Oakland this year.

I thought ESPN missed a great chance at analysis in the top of the fifth inning in tonight's Indians-Angels game. Sizemore leads off the inning, pulling a double to right field, not down the line, but to the left of the rightfielder. Cabrera follows up with a double he pulls into the gap deep in right-center. The interesting thing to me is that K-Zone showed both pitches away from the batter. Sizemore's was about 3/4 to the outside edge of the plate, and Cabrera made contact with the ball over the outside edge of the plate. I always hear announcers say how you should go with pitches away, but here were two cases when pulling the ball more outside than inside resulted in long hits. I'd love to hear Joe's explanation for that.

Pat Burrell hit a double and a home run today as the Phillies defeated the Marlins 8-5. Burrell got off to a rough start this season, hitting poorly during the first three months, although he did a good job of getting on base. The turning point was Independence Day, and he's been hot since:

Pat Burrell, 2007	Through 7/3	Since
Games	78	57
Batting Average	.202	.337
OBA	.369	.447
Slugging Percentage	.376	.684
Home Runs	9	18
Runs Scored	28	39
Runs Batted In	33	54

He's doubled his home run output in about twenty fewer games. The optimist sees the Phillies push for the wild card attributable to Burrell's comeback. The pessimist sees the Phillies not in first place in the east and blames Pat's first half. I lean toward the former, as even during Burrell's resurgence, the Mets have a better record than the Phillies, 34-25 to 32-25.

The Diamondbacks did real damage to the Cardinals chances of winning the NL Central as they sweep St. Louis. The Red Birds, down 6-4 in the ninth, managed to load the bases with two out but only score one run as the Diamondbacks with their 32nd one run game of the season. For the second day in a row, the DBacks fall behind early, this time 4-2, but come back against the Cardinals bullpen for the victory. Arizona now leads the west by three, while the Cardinals fall that far behind in the central.

Jay Gibbons is the latest player linked to the Signature drug scandal. I wonder why the names are leaking out so slowly. I'd think if someone has the list, why not just release the whole thing at once?

A source in Florida with knowledge of Signature Pharmacy's client list alleges that between October 2003 and July 2005, Gibbons received six separate shipments of Genotropin (a brand name for synthetic Human Growth Hormone), two shipments of testosterone and two shipments of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone produced naturally during pregnancy, but taken by anabolic steroid users to stimulate the production of testosterone, which is suppressed as a result of steroid use. The information regarding Gibbons only pertains to receipt and not actual use of the drugs.

Gibbons had a lousy year in 2004 but set his career high for slugging percentage in 2005.

Sometimes a small sample size might hold a lot of information. Phil Dumatrait made his sixth start for the Reds today, and gave up three straight home runs to start the game. He settled down to give up two singles before the Reds pulled him from the game. He's now pitched eighteen innings in the majors, allowing thirty runs and six homers. He's also allowed thirty nine hits while walking twelve. I'd say that's a pretty good indication he's not ready to be a major league pitcher. (His minor league numbers are okay, but he's been awful so far with the Reds.)

Weeks and Braun each hit two home runs as Milwaukee blasts six long balls to win 10-5. With the Cubs losing by the same score, the Brewers reclaim first place in the NL Central. Pittsburgh drew seven walks for the second day in a row, but this time they backed them up with thirteen hits to plate ten runs.

Bruce Bochy wins the substitution war with Grady Little as Ray Durham homers in the bottom of the eighth to put the Giants up 4-2. With a 2-1 lead Penny gives up a double to start the eighth. Proctor comes in and throws a wild pitch to move Frandsen to third, but strikes out Winn. Beimel comes in to pitch to Bonds, and Velez pinch runs for Kevin at third. After falling behind Barry, the Dodgers walk him, and Davis pinch runs. Bochy sends up Durham for Klesko and Broxton comes in to pitch. On an 0-2 pitch, Durham hits a ball off the top of the ball in right for the 4-2 lead. I really think managers over think bullpen use sometimes. Every pitcher you bring in is another chance for a blow up.

Update: The Giants win 4-2, killing a golden opportunity for the Dodgers to move up in the NL Wild Card standings.
Davis stays in to play center and makes a fantastic play for the first out in the ninth, recovering from a bad read on the ball to make the catch with his back to the infield his left arm stretched out toward the wall.

The Seattle Mariners win just their second game in their last fifteen, blowing out Detroit 14-7. Seattle scored more runs today than they did in their last four games, all losses. Felix Hernandez doesn't pitch well today, giving up seven runs (six earned) in five innings, but the Mariners had scored thirteen at that point.

What's more worrying is Bonderman, who didn't get out of the second inning. He's only made two good starts since August first, and I wonder if the sore elbow is more serious than first thought.

Todd Helton picked up his thirty fifth double of the season today, the tenth straight season he's reached that plateau. According to the broadcast, he's the first player to accomplish that feat. All-time record holder Tris Speaker misses twelve straight years of thirty five when the 1918 season was cut short due to WWI. Speaker had 33 when the season ended. He hit over 40 the previous two seasons, then at least 35 each of the next nine years.

More importantly, the Rockies win 4-2, taking two out of three from San Diego and gaining a game in the NL Wild Card race over the series.

Pedro Martinez threw a lot of pitches over five innings, but kept the Astros off the scoreboard. He tossed 92 pitches, 65 for strikes, walking one and striking out four. He even doubled and scored a run! The Mets go on to a 4-1 victory, and Pedro continues his successful return from shoulder surgery. He's given up eleven hits in his ten innings of work, but he's bending, not breaking.

Alex Rodriguez went deep again today, hitting four home runs in the three game series at Kansas City and five in six games at Kauffman Stadium this season. Alex came up in 1994 but didn't hit his first home run in KC until 1999, and now has thirteen at the park. I'm sure after this weekend, Alex would like to finish the season hitting there.

The Yankees win 6-3, and it turns out to be a good weekend for their AL Wild Card hopes. The Mariners won today over Detroit, so with the Yankees sweeping Kansas City, they increased their lead over both the Tigers and Seattle. Wang won his eighteenth, keeping pace with Beckett.

Alex needs ten more home runs to break Maris' single season AL home run record. With A-Rod expected to get 85 more plate appearances this season and a home run rate (HR/PA) of .0828, he now has a 16.5% chance of at least 62 homers this year.

Troy Glaus won't comment on the steroid allegations leveled against him:

"I respect the fact that you guys have a job to do. I expect that you certainly have some questions. I am not going to comment on the story," Glaus told reporters before Saturday night's game at Tampa Bay. "I hope you respect that at this time."

Glaus appeared shaken by the situation when he talked briefly outside the Blue Jays' clubhouse prior to batting practice. He led the AL with 47 homers in 2000 and was MVP of the 2002 World Series for the Anaheim Angels, then missed large stretches in 2003 and 2004 because of shoulder problems.

Major League Baseball has already asked to meet with him.

"At this point I'm just trying to get ready for a game, and help us get into the playoff hunt," Glaus said.

It's incredible how bad the Mariners played over the last two weeks. Twenty games over .500, facing a stretch against the opponents to beat to gain a playoff berth, they go 1-13, 1-7 against the Angels, Yankees and Tigers. They finish that stretch up today as Felix Hernandez, the pitcher who owns that lone win, goes against Jeremy Bonderman. Despite that record, they're not out of the AL Wild Card race, but they're certainly teetering on the brink. This is their last chance to help themselves, as they face neither Detroit nor New York the rest of the way.

Pedro Martinez makes his 2007 Shea debut this afternoon. He draws Astros ace Roy Oswalt, so it should be a good one. Oswalt is six walks away from setting a new career high, one reason his ERA is up over the last two seasons.

Beckett and Wang stay on rotation as the two race to twenty wins. Both face fourth place teams today, which should help each win game number eighteen. What's impressive about both is they missed three or four starts, and still lead the AL in wins. Here's a comparison of the three 17 game winners. Sabathia out performs both.

The two teams play a three game series with a day off before they meet in Boston for the last time. We'll see if the rotations work out for a head-to-head meeting. Wang faces Zack Greinke today, who is on a bit of a roll himself. He hasn't allowed a run since returning to the rotation three starts ago, and the Royals are doing a good job of working him back, extending him by an inning each outing. He's struck out eleven and walked one in those twelve innings.

Finally, a good pitching matchup as the Dodgers play their last game in San Francisco this season. Brad Penny takes on Matt Cain. Penny's made three starts against the Giants in 2007, but has only struck out four in nineteen innings. After being the poster child for lousy support most of the season, Cain is 4-2 in his last eight starts with a 3.35 ERA. He's only allowed three homers in his last 51 innings.

Enjoy!

The Arizona Diamondbacks knocked another game off their magic number as they cam back from a 7-3 deficit to defeat the Cardinals 9-8.

The Diamondbacks, staggered by the seven-run third inning, recovered quickly.

They came back with five runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by Stephen Drew's three-run homer. Miguel Montero drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly, and pinch-hitter Carlos Quentin's chopper over the head of third baseman Brendan Ryan gave the Diamondbacks a two-run cushion at 9-7.

And the bullpen pitched well late as they allowed just one hit over the last three innings. Valverde picked up his 44th save, although he has blow seven.

What interesting is this stands as another one-run win for the Diamondbacks. Arizona's offense is weak, so you really don't expect their one-run wins to be high scoring affairs. But they are 5-1 in one run games where at least thirteen runs are scored, the best winning percentage in the majors (Texas is 9-2, which is also impressive). Overall, Arizona extends it's record in one-run games to 31-17, also the best winning percentage in the majors.

Bad news, however, in that they've lost Orlando Hudson:

Orlando Hudson talked it over with his mom and his grandma, his agent and his manager, and ultimately reached a painful conclusion.

He will have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. His season is officially over.

"We talked about it, and that's the best thing to do," Hudson said. "Doctor (Don) Sheridan, he's the best in the business. That (surgery) was the first thing to come out of his mouth, so you pretty much know it's going to get done."

That's a tough loss for Arizona, and it's too late to get a decent replacement. His injury hurts the DBacks on both sides of the ball, so we'll see if they can hold on to a playoff spot without him for the next three weeks.

In honor of Gene Orza and A-Rod joining the 130-130 club, here's the list of top runs+rbi in the majors this season:

Most Runs + RBI, 2007

Player	Runs Scored	Runs Batted In	Runs Plus RBI
Alex Rodriguez	130	138	268
Magglio Ordonez	105	123	228
Matt Holliday	94	110	204
Jimmy Rollins	122	81	203
David Ortiz	101	98	199
Bobby Abreu	105	94	199
Prince Fielder	94	104	198
Ryan Howard	78	113	191
David Wright	97	93	190
Carlos Pena	84	105	189
Vladimir Guerrero	79	110	189
Adam Dunn	93	96	189

Alex holds a bigger lead over the number two position than Ordonez holds over the number ten slot. Almost all these players do a good job of both getting on base and hitting for power. Part of it too, is being surrounded by good players. It's no surprise that Abreu is on the list as he benefits from Jeter in front of him and A-Rod behind him, just as Alex takes advantage of Abreu and Matsui.

The one person who stands out is Jimmy Rollins, the only leadoff type hitter in the top twenty. Batting first cuts down on Jimmy's RBI opportunities, but with his power and ability to steal he puts himself in scoring position quite often, as well as driving in runs when he has the opportunity.

Alex needs 32 more runs + RBI to break 300. Setting the AL single season record for home runs gives him at least twenty two more, so if he passes Maris he likely reaches 300 runs + RBI as well.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Jeff Francis pitched well enough to win tonight, but Greg Maddux and the San Diego bullpen pitched a bit better. Francis went eight innings, allowing four hits and two runs, lowering his ERA to 4.05. But he ran into Greg Maddux with his good stuff, getting great movement on his pitches to hold Colorado to three hits and no walks over six innings. Greg hasn't walked a batter since July. With the Padres pen backing him up, Maddux notches career win 345 by a score of 3-1.

Jeremy Accardo doubles his home runs allowed total, giving up two two-run homers in the ninth inning. That turned a great eight innings by A.J. Burnett into a 5-4 Toronto loss. Upton provided the dramatic ending with a pinch-hit walk off homer, his 23rd long ball of the season.

Burnett went eight innings, striking out eight and walking just one as he allowed one run on a Navarro homer. Tampa Bay is 12-5 in their last 17 games.

The two home runs tonight really boosted Alex's chances of hitting 62 home runs this season. I estimate he has 89 plate appearances left, and with his current rate of .0819 HR/PA, the probability of him hitting at least eleven more dingers is 11.1%. It was about 3% this morning.

The Cincinnati Reds got off to a 3-0 lead on the Brewers in the second inning, but haven't added to that score since. Milwaukee, however, worked back slowly, scoring single runs in the fifth, sixth, eighth and now ninth to take a 4-3 lead. Fielder hit his 43rd home run in the sixth. The only mistake Suppan and the pen made in their first eight innings of work was Suppan's gohper ball to Votto in the second. That accounted for all three Reds runs.

Update: Cordero closes out the game, and the Brewers keep pace with the Cubs.

The Pittsburgh Pirates drew seven walks and a hit by pitch tonight, but managed just two hits and one run against the Cubs as Chicago takes the game 5-1. In the seventh and eighth inning, Pittsburgh put five men on by the walk or hit by pitch, but they could only push across one run. Chicago guarantees they'll hold on to first place for at least another day. Zambrano struck out eight in his six innings of work, but he got wild late, issuing five of the walks.

Dice-K gets rolled for an eight spot as he allows a grand slam to Scott Moore. Varitek set up on the outside corner and Daisuke threw it down the pipe. He gives up eight runs in 2 2/3 innings, his third bad outing in a row. He's given up twenty runs in his last 14 1/3 innings. Maybe the Red Sox should just shut him down for a start, let him take a rest so he's ready for the playoffs.

Alex Rodriguez just hit his fiftieth home run of the season, a shot just over the fence in dead center field. He's the first Yankees right-hander to hit fifty in a season, and the first since Maris and Mantle in 1961. That's six for Alex in the first eight days of the month. If he can keep up that pace for sixteen more days he'll set a new AL single season record. It's the third time Alex broke the 50 barrier. He did it previously in his first two years with Texas.

Update: Alex goes deep again, a solo shot leading off the sixth inning. This time, he pulls it into the Yankees bullpen. He should turn his ankle more often. It's his eighth multi-homer game of the season. In addition, the broadcast said he set the record for a third baseman with 49. Schmidt hit 48 as a third baseman in 1980.

The two runs scored gives Alex 130 on the season. It's the third time he's both scored and driven in 130 runs. He could easily end up 140-140.

Update: It's the 63rd time a player reached 130-130 in a season. Babe Ruth is the only member of the 170-170 club. The last to reach 140-140 was Sammy Sosa in 2001, the twenty third player to accomplish the feat. However, you have to go back to 1949 and Ted Williams to find the penultimate accomplishment of the feat.

Update: Rodriguez is now the only player to set a single season major league record for home runs at two positions, shortstop and third base.

I like the fact that Jim Leyland is treating this game against the Mariners tonight as a playoff game. With a 3-1 lead, Nate Robertson got into trouble with two outs in the second. The Tigers got the bullpen going as Nate worked his way out of the jam, allowing just one run. Leyland, however was ready to pull his starter if it looked like the Mariners might take a lead.

According to this report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Frank Coonelly will be the new president of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Here's some background on him from Bronx Banter:

Frank Coonelly may be the most powerful person in baseball you've never heard of.

Coonelly's job title is chief labor counsel for Major League Baseball. One AL executive told me that so far as he knew, Coonelly "coordinates our side on the arbitration stuff" and that he is on management's committee on salaries and relations with the union. Doug Pappas, who is the chairman of the Society for American Baseball Research's Business of Baseball Committee, puts it this way: "Coonelly is in charge of monitoring compliance with suggested draft bonuses and free-agent negotiations."

Coonelly was at the heart of the collusion allegations heard in the early part of this decade. Some thought he was a human information bank. It would have been collusion for MLB to keep that on a computer, but some feel baseball got around that by having everything go through Frank. It doesn't seem like the choice to make if you want someone who'll get along well with the players or their agents.

It was a good afternoon for the massive tie scenario as both the Phillies and Dodgers won, which at least keeps them close in the NL Wild Card race. A win by Colorado over San Diego and by St. Louis over Arizona would make a tie for the west and the wild card even more likely.

In addition to Baseball Musings, I also post twice a week at AT&T Blue Room. Click on Sports, then on Buzz to see my columns.

It's a good day for forty year olds as David Wells matches Tom Glavine's five perfect innings. He gives up three hits and two runs in the sixth, however, as the Dodgers cling to a 3-2 lead.

Chris Coste hits a two-run homer in the fourth inning against the Marlins to put the Philies up 3-1. Four of Coste's five home runs have come with men on base this season.

Luis Gonzalez gets the Dodgers off to a good start with a three-run homer off Barry Zito in the first inning. Barry came into the game with a 6.94 ERA his season against the Dodgers, something that won't endear him to Giants fans.

The Phillies phind themselves in a hole early as Hanely Ramirez keeps powering his way through September. That's his ninth hit of the month, five for extra bases. The young shortstop is slugging .563 on the season.

The Mets are getting a great stretch drive out of Tom Glavine. With his seven innings of one-run ball today, he's 4-0 in his last eight starts with a 2.49 ERA. He control's been equal to his runs allowed, as he's only walked fourteen in that time.

After Smoltz went for a no-hitter last night, his old teammate Tom Glavine is perfect through three this afternoon at Shea. He's struck out two and thrown 36 pitches. The Mets have not score yet, either.

Update: Glavine strikes out two in the fourth looking, and gets Burke on a foul pop. The Mets now lead 1-0 on a Wright home run, and the Tom is still perfect.

Update: Green and Lo Duca hit back-to-back doubles in the fourth to put the Mets up 2-0. The Mets radio announcers were speculating that if you can get a big lead on the Astros right now, they'll fold for the game. They noted last night at one point half the Astros on the field didn't realize they had recorded the third out at the end of an inning and stayed on the field. They just don't have their heads in the game right now.

Update: Tom gets three ground balls in the fifth to retire the side. The last was hit to Wright, who bobbled the ball, but recovered to throw out Wigginton. Glavine perfect through five. He's averaging an efficient thirteen pitchers per inning.

Update: Cody Ransom leads off the sixth with a hit, breaking up the no-hitter. However, Munson hits into a double play to keep Glavine at the minimum number of batters faced.

Boston faces Baltimore against tonight, with Daisuke Matsuzaka taking on Jon Leicester. Not a great matchup, but I'm disappointed we didn't get Jon Lester vs. Jon Leicester. On a serious note, should the Red Sox be worried about Matsuzaka? Is the longer MLB season wearing down on him? His last two starts have been poor, but on top of that he's only struck out five in his last 11 2/3 innings. Dice-K's pitching at this point won't keep the Red Sox out of the playoffs, but it could very well make a difference once the Red Sox are there.

The NL Central remains a division in which no team can take charge. The Pirates play the Cubs, and Pittsburgh is tied for last but only 9 1/2 games out of first. This is a team the Cubs should stomp on, but in this crazy division, the Pirates can't really feel they're out of the race. They have five more games with the Cubs, three with the Brewers and three with the Cardinals. The Reds play the Brewers today, and they are only 7 1/2 out. They play five more vs. Milwaukee, six more vs. the Cubs and three with the Cardinals. Both the Pirates and Reds boast good offenses, they just need to figure out who can pitch down the stretch! They'll send their best out today, as Ian Snell faced Carlos Zambrano and Aaron Harang takes on Jeff Suppan. Can one of these teams do what the Astros almost did in 2006?

Colorado tries to gain on wild card leader San Diego again as Greg Maddux faces Jeff Francis. Maddux has a 5.58 ERA in ten starts at Coors. The Padres have Francis' number, however. In three starts against San Diego, he's allowed 19 runs, all earned, in 15 1/3 innings, including five homers.

Enjoy!

Bob Watson is very interested in returning to the Houston Astros as general manager.

"I have really a real feeling for the Houston Astros," he said. "As you know, and hopefully our readers know, that in 1964 I signed with then the Colt .45s, so I go a way back. I've been with this organization in a number of capacities. And I left to go to New York, and bottom line is I left a job undone. I'd like to culminate my career of some 43 years as we speak with bringing in and putting this club where it needs to be.

"And I think the other reason is I think Drayton McLane deserves to have a championship club. He has worked so hard and tirelessly. He has spent a lot of his money and energy trying to make this a championship city, and I'd like to help him accomplish that."

Bob Watson's had an extremely interesting career. He scored the 1,000,000th run in baseball history. He hit for the cycle in both leagues. He worked in the front office of teams and for the commissioner's office, breaking the color barrier for the position of general manager. I'm sure the Houston fans would love to have him back.

There's an interesting point made about Glaus in this Star story. The allegations are that Glaus received drug up until May of 2004.

Dr. Christiane Ayotte, who heads an anti-doping lab in Montreal which has performed drug testing for the league, said she can't understand how Glaus could have avoided detection if he had been using nandrolone.

In 2005, MLB instituted random drug testing on its players.

"Everybody knows that nandrolone pharmaceutical preparations are long-lasting," Ayotte said

"It should have been detected ... unless he was not tested or never took it. Nandrolone is easy to detect and our anecdotal reports show it lasts up to 20 months in the system."

I suppose it's possible he wasn't test until the end of 2005, and that gave the drug enough time to get out of his system. But also, in 2005, MLB was forgiving the first offense, where the player wasn't suspended and the results were not made public. He might have failed, and we just don't know about it.

The Diamondbacks are now talking about surgery for Orlando Hudson.

Hudson learned Thursday that he has a torn ligament in his left thumb. Team officials said they will wait until Sunday to see if rest and treatment will allow him to return this season. But, at this point, season-ending surgery appears to be the most likely route.

"We're going to give it a couple of days, regroup and make a decision on Sunday," General Manager Josh Byrnes said. "(Surgery) is a scenario, no doubt."

Offensively, Hudson's created the second most runs on the team behind Eric Byrnes. This isn't a great offensive team to begin with, so a loss of Hudson for the rest of the season makes the Diamondbacks even more dependent on their pitching.

Alex Rodriguez hit his forty ninth home run of the season in a 3-2 Yankees victory over the Kansas City Royals. Breaks his record for most Yankees home runs by a right-handed batter, and increases his odds of break Roger Maris' AL record to 0.032, or 3.2%.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Tied at four with the White Sox, the Twins score six runs in the top of the ninth to take a 10-4 lead. But the White Sox come back with six runs in the bottom of the inning to even things up again and send the game into extra innings. White hit a three-run homer for the Twins in the top of the inning, Thome hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the ninth.

Correction: Thome's homer was a three-run shot.

Update: The Sox win in thirteen innings. NIck Punto's error loads the bases for a Pierzynski single. With Cleveland losing to LAnaheim 3-2 in ten innings, the White Sox stave off elimination for another day.

Elmer Dessens only lasted 2 1/3 innings, but there's good news and bad news with the situation. The good news is he didn't give up a hit. The bad news is he strained a hamstring. Dessens hasn't pitched well at all this season, so losing him during a good outing just hurts more.

The Rockies offense, however, knocked Germano out early. Colorado leads San Diego 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth. Kaz Matsui hit a two-run homer off Germano to help the cause.

Rick Ankiel addressed HGH allegations tonight:

Rick Ankiel says any drugs he received in 2004 were prescribed by a licensed physician to help him recover from reconstructive elbow surgery.

Ankiel, whose comeback is one of the great stories of this season, initially acknowledged human growth hormone was among those medications during a brief session with reporters Friday, then refused to list his various prescriptions.

"I'm not going to go into the list of what my doctors have prescribed for me," the St. Louis Cardinals outfielder said when asked specifically whether he had taken HGH as part of his recovery. "I've been through a lot emotionally and physically. There are doctor and patient privileges, and I hope you guys respect those privileges."

MLB wants to speak with him, and he'll cooperate. I haven't seen a comment from Glaus yet.

Curtis Granderson hit his twentieth home run tonight, becoming the sixth player to collect twenty doubles, triples and home runs in a season.

The Orioles are starting to remind me of King Lear. As you read or watch that play, one thinks, "It can't get any worse than this!" And each time you think that, it gets worse. The Orioles were shut out tonight by the Red Sox, with Jon Lester going seven four-hit innings. Lester's comeback is a wonderful story, but the reality is that he hasn't pitched that well overall. Yet in his last two starts, he's held the Orioles to two runs in thirteen innings.

On top of that, Daniel Cabrera got himself thrown out of the game:

Both teams charged from the dugouts and bullpens in the fourth inning after Cabrera threw a fastball behind the ear of Dustin Pedroia. The pitch came immediately after a balk produced a run to put the Red Sox up 3-0.

As plate umpire Mike DiMuro issued a warning to both teams, the Red Sox collectively emerged from the dugout, led by manager Terry Francona. After being restrained by his teammates, Cabrera waved his arms at the Red Sox, challenging them.

That caused tempers to escalate. The Orioles charged from their dugout while relievers from both teams ran in from the bullpen, at least two of them scaling the 7-foot wall. No punches were thrown, and Cabrera (9-15) was ejected from the game before order was finally restored.

It just keeps getting worse.

Baseball Musings wasn't displaying properly on a Motorola Q. I've figured out the problem, and now I wonder if it works with other mobile browsers. If you have one, give it a try and let me know if it works or not. Thanks much!

Bob Wickman signs with the Diamondbacks. AZ Snakepit hopes the rumors about his attitude are just rumors. He's been very good at keeping the ball in the park in his career, with should be good in a high altitude stadium.

Sports Illustrated links Troy Glaus to the Signature steroid scandal, providing me with a great headline. River Ave. Blues take is here.

A source in Florida with knowledge of the client list of Signature Pharmacy, an Orlando-based compound pharmacy, alleges that between September 2003 and May 2004, multiple shipments of nandrolone and testosterone were sent to Glaus at a Corona, Calif., address that traces to the player. Though the information only pertains to receipt and not actual use of steroids, both nandrolone and testosterone were on Major League Baseball's banned list at the time.

Glaus, then with the Angels, missed much of the 2003 season with a tear in his right rotator cuff and frayed labrum and underwent season-ending shoulder surgery after attempting a comeback in 2004.

The prescriptions, written in Glaus' name, were obtained through New Hope Health Center, a California-based anti-aging clinic that advertises the sale of anabolic steroids and human growth hormones on its Web site. The prescription was processed by Signature. The prescribing physician was Ramon Scruggs, M.D. According to the Medical Board of California, as of March 2007, Scruggs has been on probation and is prohibited from prescribing drugs over the internet. He also was reportedly involved in a lawsuit with Mobile-based Applied Pharmacy, which, ironically, was the subject of a previous multi-agency raid. (Contacted through New Hope and given the chance to comment on Friday, Scruggs responded with expletives and ended the conversation abruptly.)

I'm guessing that with the Daily News breaking the Ankiel story this morning, all the other rumors that reporters are sitting on will come out. My question is, how long has Selig had this information, and will he or the union take any action?

Update: Looking at Troy's pro career, you wonder where the juicing might have started. After being a first-team All-American in college, he tore up AA so thoroughly in 1998, that was the only time he spent in the minors apart from rehab assignments. He took until 2000 to adjust to the majors, and took off at age 24. Was he that good then, and tried the drugs to come back from an injury? Did he start in college? We'll see if he answers any questions today. I doubt it.

Geoff Young reminds us of the good job Randy Smith performed as GM of the Padres.

The Detroit Tigers host the Seattle Mariners as the two teams vie to stay in the AL Wild Card race. The Mariners send Miguel Batista against Justin Verlander. Batista had success against Detroit in one start this season, holding them to one run in six innings. Verlander upped his strikeouts and lowered his home runs allowed this year, but only kept his ERA in line. It turns out in 2006 he was much better than his FIP ERA, but this year he's just slightly better. He's shown real improvement that's covered by luck.

Colorado starts a series of 20 games against NL West and Wild Card contenders as they open a series against San Diego. Justin Germano opposes Elmer Dessens. Germano's walks have been high lately, as he's issued sixteen free passes in his last thirty four innings. Dessens pitched badly as a reliever this season, and even worse as a starter. The Colorado offense is going to need to hit on all cylinders tonight to win this one.

Enjoy!

Purple Row examines Clint Hurdle's ability to manage in a pennant race.

Baseball Digest Daily just sent word that the Pirates fired Dave Littlefield. I'm looking for a story.

Update: Here's one from the Post-Gazette:

The Pirates this morning fired general manager Dave Littlefield near the end of his seventh losing season.

He will be replaced on an interim basis by Brian Graham, the team's director of player development.

Littlefield, 47, took the post July 31, 2001, and his teams went a combined 442-581 in his tenure, never approaching .500. That included 67-95 finishes in 2005 and 2006, and the current edition's 61-79 record.

His contract, which was extended on opening day last year, was to run through the 2008 season.

The firing was made by principal owner Bob Nutting, who already had been searching for a new CEO to replace outgoing Kevin McClatchy and now will add the general manager's post to that list.

Littlefield talked a better game than he played, much like J.P. Ricciardi. At least the Blue Jays put the semblance of a good team on the field. Littlefield couldn't even build a good farm system:

What's worse, however, is that the Pirates farm system has nothing to show for years of major league ineptitude. The farm system should be crawling with fine young talent, but the Pittsburgh AA and AAA affiliates are crawling with players in their mid 20s. That's not the age that produces stars. The Athletics and Twins showed how to build a team with a low payroll. The Devil Rays and Royals can point to talent in their systems. There's no excuse for the Pirates to be this bad. Things won't change until Pittsburgh hires a GM who knows how to build a team from scratch.

I could excuse the performance on the field if the last place finishes were being used to build for the future. That didn't happen, and whoever takes his place permanently is in for a long rebuilding period.

Via Baseball Think Factory's Newblog, all I can say is "Wow." I guess if you don't buy Mike's services, you get ripped on his blog.

Since 1999, the Athletics finished first in their division four times and second four times, winning the wild card once. That's five playoff appearances. I think most teams would be happy with that.

The Honus Wagner card sets another record.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The NL Central coin toss takes place this afternoon to determine which teams get home field advantage in a one game playoff. The Brewers are asking you to vote on what they should call in the flip with the Cardinals. I assume Cardinals fans will vote for what they think won't come up. :-)

It's interesting that 53% right now are voting heads (scroll down for the poll). Does this indicate the "crowd" thinks the coin is biased? Or is heads just a more positive outcome, and most people are optimists?

Bleed Cubbie Blue gets a bit of revenge on Andre Ethier. That's why I won't let my daughter marry a professional ballplayer!

Jon Weisman seems a bit concerned that the Astros are interested in Logan White for their vacant GM position.

Orlando Hudson tore a ligament in his left thumb:

"Nothing to worry about, just maybe a couple of days," he said.

Hudson, who visited hand specialist Dr. Don Sheridan and underwent an MRI exam, injured the thumb while sliding headfirst into third base in the seventh inning of Tuesday night's game. He was back in the lineup Wednesday night but left that game in the eighth inning, as the injury had worsened.

He should be able to field just fine, but I wonder how much this will affect his batting. He's on a pace to set career highs in batting average and on-base average.

The New York Daily News connects Rick Ankiel to HGH.

According to records obtained by The News and sources close to the controversy surrounding anti-aging clinics that dispense illegal prescription drugs, Ankiel received eight shipments of HGH from Signature Pharmacy in Orlando from January to December 2004, including the brand-name injectable drugs Saizen and Genotropin. Signature is the pharmacy at the forefront of Albany District Attorney David Soares' two-year investigation into illegal Internet prescription drug sales, which has brought 22 indictments and nine convictions.

Ankiel's prescriptions were signed by Florida physician William Gogan, who provided them through a Palm Beach Gardens clinic called "The Health and Rejuvenation Center," or "THARC." The drugs were shipped to Ankiel at the clinic's address.

THARC also provided a shipment of steroids and growth hormone to former major league pitcher Steve Woodard, who pitched for Milwaukee, Cleveland, Texas and Boston during a seven-year career that ended in 2003, according to records. Woodard and Ankiel were teammates with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds in 2004.

This is too bad. The article notes that "he (Ankiel) stopped receiving HGH just before Major League Baseball officially banned it in 2005." It should be noted that in 2005, there was an official policy put in place on testing and punishment. It was cheating to use PEDs before that, as any controlled substance was illegal. Players got around HGH by having doctors prescribe the drug, even though there's no real use for it once you're an adult.

And in fact, HGH does nothing for you. So this is going to turn out to be a scandal about cheating poorly. What's worrisome is that Ankiel was willing to use this type of drug, which may mean he was willing to do others as well.

I suppose the good news is that the drug testing agreement scared him off using these. So at least in this case, testing appeared to have the desired effect. We'll see how Rick responds later today.

Thanks to the Baseball Digest Daily newsletter for the tip.

Update: Sabernomics weighs in.

First, let me repeat what I have said a number of times. There is no evidence that HGH improves athletic performance--none, zero, zilch. This is the consensus of the exercise physiology profession. The people who study this stuff as their profession say that HGH is useless for building strength. Why isn't this being reported in the media?

HGH should be taken off the banned list. It does nothing for players and there's no way to detect it. Why waste money looking for it?

With the Cubs losing and Cardinals winning Thursday afternoon, the top three teams in the NL Central are tied in the all freakin' important loss column. As we all know, it's easy to make up the wins.

So course, this ignores the totally meaningless win column, and the even more ignored winning percentage column. But in fact, that latter column is extremely important. If we use it as a predictor of future performance, what we find is that we should expect the Cardinals to win 13 of their last 25 games, while we should expect the Cubs and Brewers to pick up 12 wins in their final 23 contests. That of course, leads to Chicago and Brewers leaving the Cardinals one game back.

Maybe we should be more concerned with the AFIGBC!

Update: One other thing to point out here. Twelve wins takes the Cubs and Brewers to 83 on the season, which would be a very low total for a division champion. It's even possible at this point that the winner finishes under .500.

Blez at Athletics Nation sits down for his annual chat with Billy Beane. Here's Beane on why he let players go for nothing on waivers:

Blez: As for the guys you let go on waivers, Kennedy and Loaiza, is the fact that they were let go for nothing an indication of their lack of market value? Because you never want to let go of something for nothing, right?

Beane: Yeah, that is true. In fairness to the players, it's probably not fair to answer that question. In those cases, having the flexibility in the payroll is a big addition. If I said there was no interest in this guy or no interest in that guy...

Blez: In other words, we can draw our own conclusions as to how it happened?

Beane: Yeah, exactly. The thing about trade market is that it's always fluctuating. I'll give you an example. As great a player as Mark McGwire was for us, and I was an assistant GM when Sandy (Alderson) was here, with the Cardinals it turned out to be a great deal for them. But I've said this to you before, only one team had interest in him and that was the Cardinals. That was the only team that thought they could use that player. You never know. The misconception people have in trade value is sometimes is all over the map. For players you can have a player that you have a ton of interest one week and then none the next week.

David Ortiz homered for the Red Sox tonight, a solo shot to tie the game at six. In 48 games since the All-Star break, Big Papi has hit 13 home runs and driven in 44. That compares to 14 home runs and 52 RBI in 91 games before the break. He was slugging well in the first half due to lots of doubles, but now he's adding the homers as well and his slugging percentage is up about 50 points in the second half.

The score remains six-all in the bottom of the sixth. Buchholz is in and walked the first batter he faced. We'll see how long he goes before allowing a hit.

Update: That didn't take long. Tyke Redman, the second batter in the inning picks up the safety.

Update: I forgot to mention that with the score tied and Wakefield out, he'll pick up his first no decision of the season.

Correction: I misread the line score. Papi's home run tied the game. I've modified the post to reflect that.

The Baltimore Black Sox, that is. The Orioles are wearing the uniforms of the 1932 Baltimore Black Sox tonight. When I first saw the caps I thought they might be remembering the St. Louis Browns, because they had been playing like that lately. :-)

Rick Ankiel keeps on keeping on and getting on. He picked up three hits and a walk this afternoon to raise his OBA to .409. And those weren't singles either. Two home runs and a double accounted for the three hits, raising his slugging percentage to .765. In 23 games, he's driven in 29 runs and scored 22. I can't wait to see what he can do over a full season. The Cardinals lead the Pirates 16-4 in the top of the ninth.

Alfonso Soriano hits his second home run of the game a three-run shot in the seventh as the Cubs regain the lead 4-2. All the scoring today came off Soriano's home runs. It's his third multi-homer game of the season, and seven of his twenty two homers came in those three games.

Kemp hits a solo shot in the eighth to make it a one-run game, 4-3 Cubs.

Update: Andre Ethier pinch-hits in the ninth and delivers a three-run homer to put the Dodgers back on top 6-4. After Marquis gave up just four hits over seven innings, the bullpen has equalled that in an inning+ of work, with two of those going for home runs. It's Ethier's second pinch-hit homer in his career. He's now 8 for 30 with 8 RBI as a PH.

Polanco singles in Infante with the winning run as the Tigers come back to score two in the bottom of the ninth. Jenks gives up three hits and hits a batter to blow just his sixth save of the season. The Tigers gain half a game in the wild card race as they prepare to host Seattle over the weekend.

Jason Marquis is perfect through four. What's more, the Dodgers aren't working him very much, as he's only thrown 36 pitches.

Update: Loney homers in the fifth to break up the no-hitter and the shutout.

The White Sox end a 15 inning scoreless streak when Konerko doubles to right with the bases loaded to plate two and give Chicago a 2-1 lead over Detroit. Interestingly, the two big power hitters in the inning, Thome and Konerko, both came up with hits to the opposite field. Thome hit a fly ball that fell out of the reach of the shifted left fielder, putting runners on first and second with no one out. Then with two outs and the bases loaded, Rodney got ahead of Paul 0-2, but kept working him outside, and Konerko finally went with the pitch to drive it down the right field line.

Derek Lowe's home run problems continue as he allows a lead-off shot in the bottom of the first to Soriano. That gives the Cubs a 1-0 lead after one inning.

Chad Durbin and Mark Buehrle are engaged in a 1-0 pitching duel this afternoon. The Tigers scored the only run of the game on a Brandon Inge homer. Buehrle brought his home runs allowed back to his 2006 levels this season, so Inge was able to take exploit a strength. However, like 14 of the 20 homers Buehrle allowed this season, Inge's was a solo shot. We'll see if the Detroit staff can make it stand up. Through five innings, they have.

Gene Orza left a comment to this post. That made my day!

The Good Phight explains why Charlie Manuel is not the manager of the year. That was the first thought that crossed my mind when the Phillies blew the win yesterday.

Bob Melvin likely will get the nod for getting a team that doesn't outscore their opponents into the playoffs. Winning with a bad team, or winning when the voters didn't expect you to win is the usual criteria for the award. I suspect if the Cardinals make the playoffs, La Russa will garner some votes, as will Lou Piniella. Bud Black, however, has the Padres with the best run differential in the NL, and there's a lot to be said for developing both offense and defense.

Via Baseball Analysts, minors.baseball-reference.com is now on-line. One of the great things about the last few years is the emergence of up-to-date minor league stats online. Now, when someone is called to the majors, we can get a good idea of how they might perform by looking at complete career lines, and seeing how they handled progressing to tougher levels of play. Thanks to Sean Forman for the site!

Ian Kennedy might have a conflict with the ALDS, should the Yankees make it.

Kennedy is scheduled to be married on October 6th at Westborough Country Club in Kirkwood, Missouri. The problem? Should the Yankees continue leading the Wild Card, they'd be in the midst of the ALDS during that time. The solution should be simple - push back the wedding. Therein lies the problem.

Delaying the wedding isn't quite as easy as you might think. Kennedy's fiancé is Allison Jaskowiak, a basketball player for USC. Her season begins in the middle of October. Two people, two different seasons. Talk about a scheduling nightmare! That, and the 200-250 people who have already received invitations.

That's an off day for the ALDS. With all the appropriate ifs, the easiest thing to do would be to schedule him for game 2 of the series. That way, he can pitch, get married, have a short honeymoon!

Vegas Watch details the new LDS schedule here.

There are only five games today, but each holds some playoff importance. The White Sox and Tigers play the rubber game of their series after an extra-inning win on Wednesday kept the Tigers in striking distance of the Yankees. They'll have to get by Mark Buehrle today, however, and for some reason the Tigers can't hit the most blown out team in the majors this week.

It's a good afternoon for the NL Central race as the Cardinals host Pittsburgh and the Cubs finish their series with Los Angeles. Bryan Bullington makes his first major league start this afternoon. He's demonstrated great control in the minors. Mike Maroth takes the hill for St. Louis. He's missed a month with a sore elbow, but pitched badly before that. If a team goes to a six man rotation, it helps to have six decent pitchers.

Derek Lowe and Jason Marquis face off in Chicago. A Cubs loss puts them in a tie with the Brewers for first place in the NL Central. Lowe has pitched poorly since the all-star break, allowing a 5.47 ERA in that time. He allowed eight home runs before the break, nine since in seventy seven fewer innings. Marquis has kept the ball in the park at Wrigley this season, allowing just eight home runs in 91 2/3 innings at home. Opponents hit thirteen in 73 1/3 road innings.

Tim Wakefield goes for his seventeenth win and his twenty seventh decision in twenty seven starts against Baltimore tonight. Wakefield is coming off a great August in which he posted a 2.45 ERA by not allowing a home run. Garrett Olson is today's sacrificial lamb for the Orioles. Olson strikes people out, 25 in 28 2/3 innings. But he has no control as he's walked 26.

Two and one half games separate the three division leaders in the AL, and two of them square off tonight as the Indians visit Anaheim to play the Angels. The Indians are one game behind the Angels for second place in the league. Cleveland needs to take three out of four to move into second place, meaning home field in the first round and the chance to play the wild card instead of a division winner. With the season series tied at three between the clubs, the Angels just need a split to hold second place, although taking three out of four gives them the tie breaker as well. Paul Byrd takes on Kelvim Escobar. The veteran Byrd has two shutouts in his last six starts and holds a 7-1 record since the All-Star break. Escobar has allowed five runs in two of his last three starts, but still remains a strong Cy Young candidate.

Enjoy!

The Diamondback defeated the Padres last night 9-6. Not only does this put Arizona in first place by a game, all the other wild card contenders lost as well. The well timed victory allowed them to pick up a game on everyone. In addition, Arizona takes the season series against San Diego 10-8, so as long as they stay ahead in the Wild Card race, they just need to tie San Diego to win the division. In essense, the win dropped their magic number by three.

There seemed to be a bit of motivation behind the win, also:

Last week, Peavy held the Diamondbacks to three hits in seven innings and suggested he come back on three days' rest to face Arizona.

Whether the short rest was the reason, Peavy did not look sharp, as the Diamondbacks scored eight times off him in four-plus innings. The motivation angle might have sharpened the Diamondbacks' focus.

"OK, he wants to pitch against us with three days off, you've got to make him pay, you know?" said catcher Miguel Montero, who hit one of his two solo home runs off Peavy. "We're in first place because we have played good no matter who is pitching. Tonight it was him."

Alex Rodriguez still has a small chance at breaking Roger Maris' American League home run record. After hitting two home runs last night, Alex needs fourteen long balls to reach sixty two. Based on his performance this year, the probability of Alex hitting a home run in any given plate appearance is .0783 (48/613). He averages 4.44 PA per game, so with twenty two games left, he should get another 98 plate appearances. The probability of his hitting fourteen home runs in those 98 PA is 0.0205, or about 2%. The odds are double that for him at least tying Maris.

The Colorado Rockies lost to the San Francisco Giants last night 5-3. Barry Bonds hit his twenty sixth home run at Coors Field in the game. Barry's the all-time leader among visitors at Coors, although Sammy Sosa just didn't get enough games there.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

Jake Peavy isn't having his best night, allowing four runs through four innings. But each time Arizona scored against him tonight, the Padres offense came back in support. Jake allowed two in the first, the Padres scored two in the second. He allowed two more in the fourth, San Diego came back with three in the fifth. That's where it stand right now, 5-4 Padres as they battle the Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West.

Update: Peavy doesn't do his part as he walks Drew leading off the fifth, then allows Hudson to triple off the centerfield wall. The game is tied at five.

Update: Peavy loads the bases and Brocail comes in to strike out Montero. But Chris Young doubles to clear the bases and the DBacks lead 8-5. Of course, this happens on the night I was pushing Peavy for Cy Young on my radio program! :-)

The Milwaukee Brewers launched five home runs against the Astros so far as they lead Houston 14-0 in the bottom of the eighth. With Jenkins and Hart reaching the 20 home run level, the Brewers have five players with 20 home runs this season, the most in the majors.

Kenny Rogers made a successful return to the mound tonight, allowing just one run over five innings while striking out six. Unfortunately, the Tigers have only scored one run tonight, sending their game against Chicago into extra innings. Chicago's bullpen has only allowed one hit tonight.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays defeated the Orioles tonight 17-2. Despite their recent spate of large losses, the Orioles don't own the worst record in blowouts (games decided by five runs or more). Baltimore is now 13-18. It's the White Sox who are the worst in this category, going just 6-24 in these games.

That's three good outings in a row for Sonnanstine. He's struck out 18 and walked two in his last 19 innings over three starts.

If you missed tonight's show, you can hear the recorded version here. It's also available on demand at TPSRadio.

Alex Rodriguez homers in the bottom of the seventh off Washburn to tie the Yankees-Mariners game at two. He also ties Mel Ott on the all-time list with 511 career home runs. He's about to move up the ranks fast, as his next long ball ties him with Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks for 17th on the all-time list. He also keeps pace with Barry Bonds, who hit number 762 this evening.

Update: The Yankees load the bases with one out, bringing up Posada as a pinch-hitter. He walks to force in the go-ahead run as the Yankees take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh.

Update: A-Rod hits two home runs in one inning as he starts and ends the scoring, hitting a two-run shot as the Yankees score eight in the seventh. They've added one in the eighth to make the score 10-2. In one night, Alex ties three greats, Ott, Mathews and Banks. He also ties his Yankees record for most home runs by a right-handed batter, 48.

Correction: Mathews, not Williams. Ted is the next person to tie at 521.

With 22 games left can he hit fourteen more and set a new AL record? It would be quite a finish to his season.

Ichiro was just called out on a throw that beat him on an attempted steal of second. Molina threw to Jeter, who swept to where Suzuki should be sliding. But Ichiro popped up, avoided the tag, and gained second base. But the umps' angle was blocked by Jeter's body, so he saw the close swipe, but not the missed contact.

The Baseball Musings Radio Show is coming up in a little while at 8 PM EDT. You can leave questions during the show in the TPSRadio Chat Room. I really recommend you stop by the chat room. Lots of people make for a lively discussion and helps me with the show.

An unbelievable ending in Atlanta this afternoon. The Phillies take an 8-2 lead into the eighth inning. Tom Gordon and Brett Myers combined to allow four to score in the bottom of the eighth, then Myers comes out for the ninth. He gets two outs, then loads the bases for Matt Diaz. Matt doubles to right center, plating all three runners and giving Atlanta a 9-8 victory. Myers and Gordon combined to allow eight hits in their 1 2/3 innings of work. Myers walked three on top of that and threw a wild pitch. Charlie Manual is going to have a long news conference this afternoon.

Fausto Carmona won his fifteenth game of the season this afternoon as the Indians defeated the Twins 6-2. Carmona gave up hits, eight in 7 1/3 innings, but all his hits were singles. That's been a strength of his all season as only forty one of his one hundred eighty one hits allowed have gone for extra bases. He's in the top five in the AL in slugging percentage allowed.

With a five game lead and an early game after a night game, Willie Randolph gave most of the regulars the day off. With no action tomorrow, most of the Mets get a nice rest going into the stretch drive.

It showed, however, in the score today. The Reds shutout the Mets 7-0. The Mets only collected three hits (two by regulars Castillo and Beltran). However, John Maine did get roughed up, allowing six runs in 4 1/3 innings to raise his ERA to 3.80. He's given up 28 earned runs in 35 2/3 since the start of August. Maybe he needs to skip a start, as I'm guessing this is the most he's ever pitched in a single season.

Jayson Werth picked up a two-out single with the bases loaded to put the Phillies up 3-0 on the Braves in the first. Jayson is now 18 for 46 on the season with runners in scoring position, a .391 batting average.

Cleveland is making quite sure that the Twins won't bother anyone in the pennant race again this season. They've scored three runs in the top of the first on three hits, two doubles and two hit batsmen. The Twins had a shot, going into the series in Cleveland on August 27th six and one half games back. They needed to sweep Cleveland, but instead have lost five in a row to the Tribe. It's a bad end to a disappointing season by the Twins.

For subscribers, my latest Baseball Prospectus column looks at the future of the relationship between MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball.

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Chipper Jones called for Questec at Turner Field last night. He was upset about poor umpiring when he was at the plate:

"The first pitch to me with the bases loaded was in my batter's box, inside," Jones told reporters after the game. "Now you tell me how I'm supposed to hit that. We have to get Questec here in this ballpark. We've got to. Umpires have got to be held accountable. That's Little League World Series stuff right there."

...

"It's a joke," Jones said. "I'm tired of it. And baseball can fine me whatever they want. I do not care. Somebody's got to say something. I've got more walks than strikeouts in my career -- I know what a strike looks like."

At this point, Questec appears to do a lot more good than harm. It's really time to put it (or a system like it) in every ballpark.

Update: Michael Lerra send this shot from MLB GameDay, showing Chipper is upset about nothing:

I'd like to see video of the pitch, if anyone can find it on the Internet. Also, I'm not sure why he's complaining if he ended up walking in the plate appearance anyway.

One of the nice things about the NL's parity is that it creates the chance for huge numbers of teams tied at the end of the season. The NL Central just needs the three teams there to play farily even the rest of the way to get a three-way tie, resulting in a two day playoff. The NL West/Wild Card race involves five teams separated by four games. Interestingly, Colorado controls its own fate here as they are the only one of the five teams to play each of the other four down the stretch. Here's a high winning percentage scenario that results in all five teams in a tie:

Team	Record
Rockies	18-6
Dodgers	17-7
Phillies	17-7
Diamondbacks	13-9
Padres	13-9

The Rockies would need to finish on a very hot streak, but stranger things have happened. Here's what should happen today to help the ties along:

• Philadelphia defeats Atlanta
• Milwaukee defeats Houston
• Los Angeles defeats Chicago
• St. Louis defeats Pittsburgh
• Colorado defeats San Francisco
• Arizona defeats San Diego

The last item brings those two team even in the loss column, although I thought you couldn't make up the losses. :-)

The American League Division races look quite settled this morning. The Red Sox, Indians and Angels each own at least a seven game lead, with a magic number no more than eighteen. The Red Sox, with a .604 winning percentage and a magic number of seventeen, have a 13% chance of winning at least seventeen games, meaning the Yankees wouldn't need to lose to put the Red Sox on top. Since 8/15, the Indians are the best team in the majors with a 15-4 mark, but LAnaheim is second in the AL, going 13-8 and the Red Sox are tied for third at 12-8. All that's left for the three teams is the race for home field advantage and trying to avoid an historic collapse.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are a young team, but it was the veterans who provided the win Tuesday night. Tony Clak and Eric Byrnes provided five early runs on two homers, and Doug Davis allowed eleven base runners but just one run as Arizona moved back into a virtual tie for the NL West lead with a 9-1 victory over the Padres. David goes 3-0 versus San Diego with a 2.75 ERA on the season, account for 1/3 of the DBacks wins against the Padres. The game also puts Arizona in line to take the season series with a win this evening. Given how close the teams stand, a tie is quite possible, and the first tie breaker (if one of the teams would be the wild card) is head-to-head record. If the Padres win, then they would need to go to the second tie-breaker, record against the West, and the Padres have a huge advantage there of six games.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Colorado Rockies keep pace in the NL West and NL Wild Card races with a 6-5 win over the Giants, a game that saw four hit batsmen. When Wilson hit Torreabla in the eighth, the pitcher and his manager got the boot, bringing on Hennessey to blow the save in the eighth and the game in the ninth. He gave an RBI single to Kaz Matsui in the eighth to make the score 5-5, then with one out in the ninth, walked two batters to set up an RBI single by Brad Hawpe. The Rockies move to five games out in the west, pending the outcome of the Padres-Diamondbacks game.

It was a good night for bringing about a massive tie in the NL Central. Carlos Villanueva pitched his second good start as he allowed one run in six innings to lower his ERA as a starter to 1.64. Ryan Braun hit his 27th home run, solidifying his Rookie of the Year credentials as the Brewers defeated the Astros 5-3.

In St. Louis, Joel Pineiro continues to impress for the Cardinals, giving up two runs in 5 2/3 innings of work, while the Cardinals score six. Another newcomer, Russell Branyan hits his first home run for his new team as St. Louis defeats Pittsburgh 6-2.

Meanwhile, Brad Penny holds the Cubs to two runs over seven innings and the bullpen keeps them off the board the rest of the way as the Dodgers defeat the Cubs, also by a 6-2 score. Five double plays turned by the Dodgers helped negate the twelve Cubs batters who reached base.

The wins and losses leave the NL Central extremely tight. Chicago holds a 1/2 game lead over Milwaukee and a one game lead over St. Louis. While the Cubs and Brewers no longer play head-to-head, the Cardinals face Chicago five times and Milwaukee three. At least St. Louis gets to control their own destiny.

Paul Lo Duca drives in seven runs for the Mets tonight as he helps them to an 11-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. That represents a new career high for Paul beating the six he drove in on 6/26/2001. Six of the RBI came on a pair of three run homers. Better than 1/6 of his season RBI came tonight.

The series is working out well for the Mets. With the Mets winning the first two and the Braves and Phillies splitting a pair, the Mets are gaining on both their NL East opponents. At this point, they've pretty much locked up the division.

The Devil Rays lose to the Orioles tonight 8-4, their 82nd loss of the season. That makes them the first team to be guaranteed of finishing under .500 for the season. But with 23 games left, they'd need to finish 14-9 to set a franchise record for wins. Given that they're 10-4 over their last fourteen games, it's a possibility.

For the eighth time in their last twelve games, the Chicago White Sox were held to three runs or less. Fortunately, Jon Garland and the bullpen were up to the task as they held the Tigers to one run, winning the game 3-1. The staff kept the nine Tigers hits short, allowing just one double, and only issued one free pass on the evening. Detroit falls 3 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the AL Wild Card race, as New York defeats Seattle 12-3.

Jesus Flores brings the Nationals back from the dead with a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the ninth to put Washington on top of Florida 4-3. Flores is a typically light hitting catcher, but he's hit .311 with runners in scoring position coming into the game.

Tomorrow, he feeds the crowd at RFK with a pack of franks and a bag of buns. :-)

The Red Sox finish their game first, so Josh Beckett takes the major league lead in wins with 17. Boston stretched him out tonight, letting him throw 117 pitches over eight innings. His high on the season is 118, and as the year has progressed, the Sox have let him throw more and more in games. Through June, he only threw over 110 pitches twice. Since, he's done it seven times. Wang is in line for the win in New York as the Yankees lead 11-1 in the eighth, so the two likely will be tied at the end of the night.

There's a squirrel running up and down the screen on the leftfield foul pole at Yankee Stadium. The crowd loves it as they're chanting, "Lets go squirrel." Everyone with a camera phone is getting a picture. If the Yankees extend their 1-0 lead this inning, Steinbrenner may hire the rodent permanently.

Update: Alex Rodriguez hits a home run into the upper deck in leftfield to make the score 2-0. Give that squirrel a nut!

Update: The Yankees are finding the holes as singles by Cano and Betemit plate two more runs. Ichiro made a rare bad throw after the Cano single, thinking of coming home to get Posada, but then deciding to throw to third to nail Matsui and throwing the ball into the ground, allowing both runners to gain their base.

In what amounts to a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Padres acquired Brett Tomko:

Tomko, 34, was designated for assignment by the Dodgers when Los Angeles signed left-hander David Wells, who had been released by the Padres.

Tomko was 2-11 with a 5.80 ERA with the Dodgers, but experienced relative success with the Padres in 2002, going 10-10 with a 4.49 ERA.

Tomko gives up a very high batting average, especially to right-handers. The Padres DER is much better than the Dodgers, so that might turn around with playing in San Diego.

I haven't seen a wire story, but Baseball Digest Daily reported in their newsletter that the Brewers acquired Ray King from the Nationals for an undetermined player.

The Washington Nationals today traded left-handed pitcher Ray King to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for a player to be named later. King, 33, went 1-1 with a 4.54 ERA (17 ER/33.2 IP) in 55 games with the Nationals this season. He signed with the Nationals as a minor-league free agent on December 18, 2006.

King won't be allowed on a Brewers post-season roster. This is King's second stint with Milwaukee, but he's not the strikeout pitcher he was from 2000-2002. But it does give the Brewers a second lefty out of the bullpen, and King is still very effective versus left-handed batters.

Update: A commenter points out that Capuano is in the bullpen. I guess he's not taking Para's spot in the rotation.

There's an excellent pitching matchup in Fenway tonight as the Blue Jays send Roy Halladay against Josh Beckett. Halladay's ability to strike out batter went down over the last two season, but he's still able to get outs on contact. Beckett tries to become the first seventeen game winner in the majors. He's received tremendous run support, the Red Sox ouscoring the opposition 124-64 with Beckett in the game.

Chien-Ming Wang might have an easier path to seventeen wins, however. He's facing Horacio Ramirez who is 8-4 despite a 6.55 ERA. A win for the Yankees tonight means Seattle leaves New York in second place in the AL Wild Card race.

The Tigers are 2 1/2 games behind New York, and get to play the reeling White Sox. Chicago won just two of their last twelve games, so this is a golden opportunity for Detroit to put together a three game winning streak.

Kyle Lohse and Tim Hudson continue the Philles-Braves series tonight. Atlanta needs to win every game, especially against wild card opponents to try to stay in the race. Lohse has posted a 4.35 ERA since joining Philadelphia, but he's kept the ball in the park, allowing just three home runs. Hudson allowed just seven home runs all season.

The Dodgers send ace Brad Penny against the Cubs this evening as a win for the Dodgers means they move up in either the NL Wild Card or NL West races. Not only has Penny held opponents to just five home runs this season, four of them were solo shots. Steve Trachsel makes his 2007 Cubs debut. Right-handed batters are hitting .303 off Steve this season.

Chris Young tries to show his back is better after pitching in the Padres only loss to the Diamondbacks last week. This time the two teams meet in Arizona as Young visits Doug Davis. Davis cut down on his hits allowed since the start of July, posting a 7-2 record in that time. Young let the ERA title slip out of his hands with a 5.48 August ERA, but opponents are still hitting just .182 against the big Ivy Leaguer.

Enjoy!

MLB FanHouse notes the end of the last AAA franchise in Canada. In an era when MLB is trying to expand international participation in the sport, interest keeps waning in one of the earliest countries to play the game.

It starts innocently enough. I'll just use that extra pitcher when we don't have a day off for a couple of weeks. Before you know it, pitchers are complaining if they're made to pitch out of turn. And then, everyone has six-man rotations. Just say no to more starters.

I've never quite understood why, when pitching is bad, teams add more bad pitchers. Maybe they believe that the more they put on the roster, the more chance they have of getting lucky with one. To me, the opposite should be true. The fewer pitchers on the roster, the less chance you have of getting unlucky with a bad one.

Are there other things in life like this? I know people and businesses often try to fix problems by throwing more money at them, but eventually those don't work and you give up. Teams just keep moving down the path to more and more pitchers working less and less.

Metstradamus sees Pedro bringing a spark of passion to his favorite team:

Your spiritual leader has come.

Don't waste him.

WasWatching links to an article on Alex Rodriguez's older half brother. The strength of genentic traits never fails to amaze me.

Zack Greinke continues to pitch well in a starting role.

He shutout the Rangers for five innings last night. He's made three starts since ending his stint in the bullpen. The Royals are keeping his pitch counts low, but so far he's posting an ERA of 0.00 while walking one and striking out eleven. Small steps for Zack, but good ones. He's looking for more:

"It'll be better when I can go seven or eight," he said. "That's when you feel like you're really in charge of the game. Just five, you get the win, but it's not completely like winning the game."

The best part is that sounds like someone who wants to play the game, not walk away.

After giving up five earned runs in 1/3 of an inning last week in Seattle, Ervin Santana comes home to pitch a short shutout, going 6 1/3 innings against Oakland as the Angels took the game 9-5. Santana now ranks second in the last fifty one seasons in largest difference between road and home ERA:

Largest Difference Between Home and Road ERA, 1957-2007 (minimum 60 IP both home and road)

Pitcher	Season	Home ERA	Road ERA	Difference
Ismael Valdez	2004	2.54895	8.55804	6.01
Ervin Santana	2007	3.46154	8.71875	5.26
Brett Tomko	2003	2.8835	7.76589	4.88
Paul Wilson	1996	2.93213	7.76549	4.83
Shawn Estes	1998	2.66368	7.44	4.78
Steve Stone	1979	1.96793	6.65581	4.69
Wandy Rodriguez	2007	2.54348	7.1122	4.57
Tommy John	1983	2.64465	7.13208	4.49
Doc Medich	1982	3.17647	7.61538	4.44
Bill Gullickson	1985	1.64746	5.74699	4.1
Al Leiter	1997	2.28	6.36681	4.09
Jason Isringhausen	1996	3.10855	7.16588	4.06

In 2004, Valdez played for two team, both with very good parks for pitchers, San Diego and Florida. With Santana this season, the difference is hits and home runs. He's allowed 30 more hits on the road in one fewer inning and eleven more homers. And this isn't a new phenomenon. Coming into this season, his batting average allowed away was almost 60 points higher than at home, while his slugging percentage allowed zoomed from .350 at home to .510 away. If the Angels are going to keep Santana, they're going to need to find clever ways to limit his starts on the road, even if it means skipping him due to days off. He's just not good outside of Anaheim.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

You know it was a pretty wild game when the Red Sox score thirteen runs and Papelbon gets a save. Boston led Toronto 10-1 at one point, but the Blue Jays scored eight in the sixth inning, six off Matsuzaka to make it a close game that the Red Sox finally won 13-10. The two teams combined for thirty two hits, 24 of which were singles. It's the eighteenth game this season with at least 24 singles.

Ichiro Suzuki did it again, collecting 200 hits for the seventh time in his seven year career. Since he joined the Mariners in 2001, Suzuki knocked out over 200 more hits than any other major league batter. It's quite impressive.

Note, however, that Ichiro gets all those hits by trading away other opportunities in which he might get on base. Despite leading in hits by over 200, Ichiro ranks fifth in that period in Times on Base (hits+bb+hbp). Todd Helton, with 2008 times on base over that time leads Ichrio by 98, with Abreu, Pujols and A-Rod also ahead of Suzuki.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays defeated Baltimore tonight 9-7. Neither team played particularly well. The Orioles blew an early 4-0 lead, but then Tampa Bay came close to blowing a 9-4 lead as Baltimore scored three in the top of the ninth. Carlos Pena hit his 35th home run of the season to solidify his second place rank in AL home runs.

Over their last thirteen games, the Devil Rays are 10-3 while the Orioles just won once. That's nine games gained by Tampa Bay in two weeks, and their still three games out of fourth place. Even sweeping the Orioles leaves them in fifth place. It's only fifth to fourth, but if Tampa can avoid a last place finish, it will be just the second time they missed the cellar, but it will also be one of the great late season comebacks.

The NL Wild Card race pulled a bit tighter today as Arizona and Philadelphia lose, while Los Angeles and Colorado win. I heard one announcer in a completely different game talk about how Philadelphia wants either the DBacks or Padres to sweep, but LA and Colorado want the Padres and DBacks to split, so they can move up on both teams for the division title. I don't agree with that logic. All teams should want a sweep, so they can try to move into the wild card position. It's more important to be in the playoffs than win the division. Once you hold the wild card, then worry about the division. Do people agree?

With the Dodgers up 11-2 at Wrigley field, Vin Scully describes the fans:

The crowd is sullen if not mutinous.

Carlos Zambrano gave up eight earned runs in 4 1/3 innings today. He's given up 17 earned runs in seventeen innings since signing his new contract. Twenty two hits allowed is the main reason for the slide.

Hunter Pence drives in two with a triple in the top of the seventh, then scores the go-ahead run on a passed ball by Estrada. The Brewers were up 7-4, but three pitchers are ineffective in the seventh, and the Brewers will have to fight back again. With the Cardinals having lost and the Cubs losing early, this would be a huge win for them.

Pence needs a home run for the cycle.

Update: Pence doesn't get the homer, but Berkman does to make the final score 9-7 in favor of the Astros. The Brewers blow an excellent chance to put some distance between them and the Cardinals.

Micah Owings is on the wrong side of home runs today, giving up at least one so far in each of the first three innings, four in all. Brian Giles hits two to bring his total to ten for the season. After hitting two through August 9th, Giles has hit 8 in his last twenty two games, including three multi-homer games. The Padres could certainly use a big power boost from the former slugger. They lead Arizona 5-0 in the bottom of the third.

C.C. Sabathia defeated Johan Santana today, shutting out the Twins for eight innings. Since mid-July, the Cleveland lefty has posted a 2.17 ERA in his last 10 starts. He hasn't received a lot of support in that time, however, going just 4-3 with the win today. But this was his ninth straight start allowed two earned runs or less. He's on a roll just when Cleveland needs it. His control has been great, walking just twelve in his last 70 2/3 innings.

The Yankees lost their third game in four tries since sweeping the Red Sox, the third to a good, young pitcher. They scored nine runs in their win, but just a combined four runs in the three losses.

Hernandez didn't pitch that well, either, which makes it worse. In his seven innings of work, Felix put on nine runners, walking four. But the Yankees grounded into two double plays and went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. Seattle ends their losing streak and now sits just one game out of the wild card.

Mussina pitched in relief and got hit a bit, giving up seven in 3 2/3 innings.

Craig Counsell came very close to killing Johnny Estrada just now. The Brewers tied the Astros at three in the bottom of the sixth on a Corey Hart fielder's choice. That left Corey at first but he stole second to force a walk of Estrada. Counsell put on a long at bat, wearing down Oswalt a bit, before he lined one into the outfield. It split the center and right fielders, who were playing shallow. Counsell went for the triple as Estrada lumbered around from first. He barely beat the throw to the plate, and grabs his hamstring afterward, but the Brewers go up 5-3. He really had nothing in the tank as he came around to score.

The Braves bullpen has been much harder to hit than their starters this season, coming into today with a .248 batting average allowed vs. .272 for the starters. They followed up a good but short start by Cormier with 3 1/3 hitless innings, just allowing a walk while striking out three. The strikeouts are a big reason for the low batting average allowed by the pen, 7.3 per 9 by the pen versus 6.3 for the starters. They send the Phillies to their third straight loss, 5-1.

Pedro Martinez pitches successfully in his comeback. He was no where near perfect, but he allowed just two earned runs over his five innings, walking three and striking out four. The Mets lead 7-3 in the seventh, so Pedro is in good shape to get the win. He threw 76 pitches, 47 for strikes, 62%.

Wily Mo Pena hits his fifth home run in fifteen games for the Washington Nationals, the same number he hit with the Red Sox in 73 games. He's not hitting for any higher an average or getting on base much more, but he is smacking the ball when he hits it. The Natonals are up 6-1 on Florida in the seventh.

Johan Santana and the Twins trail the Indians 2-0 in the second. Santana walked one in each inning, and both came around to score. His line through two innings is 2.0-2-2-2-2-0.

Update: Wash, rinse, repeat. Johan walks another batter in the third, and he comes around to score to make the Indians lead 3-0. Santana finally gets a strikeout, however.

Ichiro Suzuki came into the game 2 for 20 in his career vs. Roger Clemens, but gets to the Rocket today. He picks up three hits in four innings, including a home run to help the Mariners to a 5-1 lead over the Yankees in the top of the fifth. That's it for the Rocket, as Mike Mussina starts the fifth. I wonder how often a 300-game winner has been relieved by a 240 game winner? It's the first regular season relief appearance by Mussina.

Pedro strikes out Hatteberg and Harang in the second, and that brings him to 3000 strikeouts for his career. The Reds lead 2-1.

Josh Hamilton leads off the first inning with a little roller that stops halfway toward third base for an infield hit. I think Pedro will take more swings like that.

Update: Alex Gonzalez hits a hard line drive to left that stays up, but Alou looked like he misjudged the ball and it goes over his head for a double. Pedro's in a tough situation right away, 2nd and 3rd with no one out. Griffey drives in Hamilton with a sacrifice fly to center, and Beltran made a great throw that almost beat the runner.

Update: Phillips singles through a drawn in infield to plate the second run of the inning, then steals second. The Reds are putting the ball in play and good things are happening.

Update: No more damage as Pedro gets a grounder and fly ball to end the inning. No strikeouts, however.

It's do or die time for the Seattle Mariners. Despite losing nine games in a row, Seattle sits in second place in the AL Wild Card race, two games behind the Yankees. Today they start a six-game stretch in which they play the two teams competing with them for the playoffs. They start off with Felix Hernandez facing Roger Clemens in New York. Hernandez has had a strange season. He started off unhittable, until he injured his elbow. He's shown signs of that early season brilliance, but not consistently. His strikeout and home run rates are good, but that hasn't translated into a low batting average allowed or a low ERA. Clemens is suffering from both foot blisters and a sore elbow, so there's a possibility Mussina might get the start.

The other big New York news, of course, is the return of Pedro Martinez. I suspect the Mets will watch him very closely today and pull him at the first sign of trouble. The Martinez/Dunn matchups should be telling, since that pits Pedro's strength versus Adam's weakness, strikeouts. The Reds send Aaron Harang, the staff ace to the mound. Given his home park, ERA and won-loss record, Harang should get a little Cy Young consideration. If the Reds put a good team around him, he might have won 20 this season.

There are two good pitching matchups in the north today as Roy Oswalt visits MIlwaukee to take on Ben Sheets and C.C. Sabathia tries to beat Johan Santana again, this time in Minnesota. Neither lefty had their strikeout pitches working in their last meeting five games ago, both striking out just two. Sheets gave Milwaukee a boost in his first start back from the disabled list, allowing one run in six innings against the Cubs. The Brew Crew is 4-1 since that return, after a five-game losing streak.

Finally, the Padres visit the Diamondbacks for the last series between the two teams atop the NL West. Both are fourteen games over .500, but the Padres have two games in hand, giving them first place by less than a thousandths of a point. The days off might be an advantage for Arizona, however, San Diego uses up its two days over the next week. From September 11th on, the Padres play every day. Arizona has their off days spread out over the month. I wonder if they'll use those to move up Webb in the rotation to get him as many starts as possible down the stretch? Today it's Maddux vs. Owings. The two engaged in a great pitchers duel their last time out, both allowing just one run over seven innings.

Enjoy!

Dan Shaughnessy pens a very good article on Terry Francona. Some people worry that Terry is too soft on the players, but Mike Timlin disagrees:

Veteran Red Sox reliever Mike Timlin has played for numerous big league mangers and says, "You run into a lot of guys who say they are players' managers. And then you never get to speak to them. Terry is quite the opposite. The door really is always open. He has the players' backs."

What about the perception he's soft on crimes against baseball?

"Stuff happens around here that people don't know about - stuff the people don't need to know about," says Timlin. "He handles it. On some teams the inmates run the asylum and then there's teams that are jails. Here there's cooperation. It's a team concept here."

That I would guess, is a good thing, and certainly, the results are there to back him up. However, a nickname I hadn't heard before, FranComa, reminds me of this SCTV skit:

Al at Bleed Cubbie Blue can't hide his excitement about this team:

A team win -- isn't this what they all seem to be this year? Derrek Lee, whose bat has been quiet for a couple of months, has now homered in consecutive games and has five since August 14, and if he's picking right now to get hot, it couldn't come at a better time. The expanded roster is going to help the next few days, what with five relievers being used today -- and in case you didn't see it, Geovany Soto was on deck, ready to pinch-hit for Wood if Jason Kendall had reached base in the bottom of the 7th.

All of this set up Dempster -- who does, for some odd reason, seem to do better with a one-run lead than with a larger lead -- to strike out Berkman, crowd roaring, to end the game, after which nearly the entire ballpark sang along to "Go Cubs Go", which is played after every win.

Let's hope we hear that song quite a bit this week, and the rest of this year. Fasten your seatbelts -- this ride may be a bit like this one.

But you wouldn't trade this, would you? Keep the faith. The best is yet to come. Onward, let's beat the Dodgers!

Dodgers Thoughts notes the severity of the injury to Juan Encarnacion's eye.

Paletta said the eye socket was essentially crushed on impact, comparing the injured area to the disintegration of an egg shell or ice cream cone, and that the optic nerve had sustained severe trauma. Reconstructive surgery may not take place for several days while doctors wait for swelling to subside.

Paletta said there was no rupture to the eyeball.

Encarnacion, who is in the second year of a three-year free agent contract, crumpled to the grass after being struck while waiting to pinch hit in the on-deck circle in the sixth inning on Friday. He remained hospitalized with a concussion and multiple fractures to the eye socket.

It's been a bad year for people getting severely injured while on the field but not in the game. Let's hope this season takes care of that bad luck for a long time, and the Juan makes a full recovery.

As for the Cardinals, Juan's not a very good hitter. I suspect this injury will help them more than hurt them by forcing them to find a replacement sooner than if they just let his contract run out at the end of next season.

Update: Scott Rolen wasn't really helping the team much with his bat, either. With luck, his surgery will return some of his power.

Peter Schmuck notes the Orioles are very good at being bad. He launches quite a few zingers the Birds way and concludes with:

The Orioles aren't without a certain twisted entertainment value of their own. I, for one, can't wait to see what happens next.

They're doing a good job of setting bad records.

6-4-2 Speculate on why Mike Scioscia allowed Scot Shields to lose the game to the Rangers Sunday night:

But that still isn't satisfying, because Shields did get himself into another jam and just couldn't pull himself out of it. He couldn't throw his breaking stuff for strikes, leaving him terribly vulnerable to hitters who were then able to sit dead red. Why would Scioscia leave him in there so long? Part of it, of course, was the fact that he had pieced together three straight good outings, but given how badly he pitched in August, that wasn't very comforting. About the only reason I can figure is that same thing that caused him to leave Ervin Santana in the rotation until his godawful July 17 outing in Tampa Bay: the Angels need him to be good and Scioscia will give him every opportunity within reason to be good.

Luckily for LAnaheim, a big lead allows them to give Shields time to get good.

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Jason Hammel pitched five good innings versus the Yankees today, holding the Bronx Bombers to one run on five hits while striking out seven. If you look at the Tampa Bay rotation the last two times through, you see some hopeful signs. They've struck out 8.2 per nine innings while allowing just 2.2 walks per nine innings. They're main problem has been long balls, allowing 1.72 per nine innings.

The strikeout and walk numbers are even more impressive if you remove Edwin Jackson. The four are all still young, born between December 1981 and January 1984. It looks like this group has developed two thirds of the tripod of pitching. They just need to get the home runs under control, and this could be an excellent rotation.

David Wright hit his twenty fifth home run this afternoon, a two run shot that made the difference as the Mets downed the Braves 3-2. It's the third straight year Wright reached that home run plateau, hitting 27 and 26 in his two previous seasons.

Wright's averages on the season are .317/.411/.536. In his three full seasons in the majors, his batting average came in between .306 and .317, his OBA between .381 and .411, and his slugging percentage between .523 and .536. He's a wonderful player to employee, high returns with low volatility.

Seeing that the White Sox defeated the Indians today 8-0, my first thought was that the team had a very good day. Then I looked at the boxscore. Indeed, every hitter in the Chicago lineup picked up a base hit today, six getting multiple hits. But they picked up eighteen hits and five walks, but only managed eight runs. Even with three base runners removed by double plays and caught stealings, they left a ton of men on base.

Even Jose Contreras' short shutout was less than impressive as he walked six batters in 6 2/3 innings. The Indians just did a worse job than Chicago of taking advantage of runners on base.

On this Labor Day weekend, the Mets and Braves give us a classic matchup of two of the best pitchers of their generation. Tom Glavine faces John Smoltz at Turner Field. Both own similar records, but Smoltz remains effective in terms of strikeouts, walks and home runs allowed, while Glavine requires much more support from his team to maintain his winning ways.

The Mariners are fading fast as they send Jeff Weaver against A.J. Burnett. Burnett's been a mixed bag for the Blue Jays. In his two seasons in Toronto he's pitched well, but he's only made 40 starts. Of course, given the way pitching contracts skyrocketted last winter, his salary looks pretty good right now.

The Padres try to put the final nail in the coffin of the Dodgers' post season hopes as Chad Billingsley faces Justin Germano. Billingsly is 2-0 vs. the Padres this season, however, with a 1.42 ERA. He's struck out 20 Dodgers in 12 2/3 innings. The Dodgers had no trouble with Germano the first time they faced him, hitting two home runs and scoring five runs.

Finally, after Haren and Escobar failed to solidify their Cy Young credentials yesterday, John Lackey goes for the major league lead in wins as he faces the Texas Rangers. He walked just five batters in 34 2/3 innings during August. He'll face 6-1 Kason Gabbard, 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA since joining Texas. That should make him the staff ace.

Enjoy!

Pillage Idiot remembers a hidden ball trick involving a potato:

Twenty years ago this past Friday, Dave Bresnahan, a minor-league catcher, pulled off what's considered one of the top baseball pranks ever. He took a potato, sculpted it to look like a baseball, and deliberately threw it over the head of the third baseman in an effort to pick a runner off third. When the runner ran home, Bresnahan was waiting with the real ball. Everyone thought it was funny, but he was fined by the manager and released by the team, dropped like a (dare I say it?) hot potato.

He stayed within the rules, but broken the spirit of those same rules. Good to see his team took the appropriate action against him.

The Boston Globe reports on some broadcast chatter involving Clay Buchholz:

It was in the middle of the third inning, Sox broadcaster Joe Castiglione said, when Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer leaned in from the visitor's broadcast booth. "Palmer said, '[Sox hitting coach] Dave Magadan told me Buchholz reminds him of me,' " said Castiglione, who observed all the usual broadcasting superstitions and didn't directly mention that a no-hitter was in progress, behavior that was imitated in the Sox dugout.

They're certainly the same size. Both are six-three. Buchholz is listed at 190 pounds, Baseball Reference has Palmer at 196. And they have similar deliveries. To the left you see the classic Palmer leg kick. Buchholz's leg kick can be seen in the video below, at about 3:01 in (2:42 on the count down clock). The angles aren't the same, but you can see they're close.

In The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers: An Historical Compendium of Pitching, Pitchers, and Pitches, they list Palmer throwing a high fastball, slow curve and a slider. Buchholz used the first two effectively last night, plus a good change-up. There's a great quote from Tom Seaver in that section, too, saying how Palmer is a master of flicking his glove into batter's line of sight. Does anyone know if Buchholz does that as well?

Palmer did throw a no-hitter early in his career, although not this early. It's an apt comparison, one the Red Sox hope holds for many years to come.

Jake Peavy cemented the case for winning the NL Cy Young award last night.

Peavy uses that concentration to hit his spots, earning him the lowest ERA in the majors among ERA qualifiers. On top of that, his strikeout, walk and home run rates rank near the top of the leader boards as well. For the John Kruk types, he leads the NL in wins as well, and is tied for the major league lead in that category as well. He's even playing for a team likely to make the playoffs! With his seven scoreless innings against the Dodgers last night, Peavy is tied with teammate Chris Young for most short shutouts:

Most Short Shutouts, 2007

Pitcher	Short Shutouts
Jake Peavy	8
Chris Young	8
Brandon Webb	7
Erik Bedard	6
Brad Penny	6
Tim Hudson	6
Orlando Hernandez	5
Tim Wakefield	5
Shaun Marcum	5
Felix Hernandez	4
Barry Zito	4
Johan Santana	4
John Smoltz	4
Justin Verlander	4

VORP lists him as fourteen runs better than any other pitcher in the majors. That's quite a lead. And for those who wish to argue that PETCO Park helps him, his road numbers argue otherwise. His road ERA is one run better than anyone else in the majors. If PETCO was truly helping him this season, he'd by challenging Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA from 1968.

Jake's pitched an impressive season so far in 2007. A few more good starts and the highest pitching honor in the game is his.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.

The Cleveland Indians defeated the White Sox tonight 7-0, winning their eighth game in a row and extending their hot streak to thirteen wins in their last sixteen games. In that time, they've allowed two runs or less seven times, and scored seven or more six times. It's not that they're powering the ball really. With the two dingers tonight, they've hit fourteen homers in the stretch. However, they've hit .316 with runners in scoring position during the stretch. That's a big improvement on their season mark of .257.

Clay Buchholz is treating the Fenway faithful to a fantastic game tonight. He just completed his eighth inning of work without allowing a hit. He walked three tonight, striking out seven. He's at 102 pitches, but I think limits are out the window tonight. With an 8-0 lead, the Red Sox will let him go until his name enters the record books or he allows a hit.

Update: Buchholz comes out for the ninth, and the top of the lineup is due up, Roberts first.

Update: Twice Roberts swings at high heat, and twice he misses as he goes down on strikes. Patterson up.

Update: Patterson hits hard liner on a 2-1 pitch to centerfield, but it stays up long enough for Crisp to catch it. One to go, Nick Markakis.

Update: Markakis strikes out, frozen on the second beautiful curveball of the at bat. Clay Buchholz throws a no-hitter in the second start of his career!

Update: Jerry Remy pointed out that Clay did a good job of mixing up his pitches tonight. He'd throw change-ups in fastball counts and was able to locate all his pitches. If you just go back and watch the ninth, you saw him get batters on fastballs, change-ups and curveballs. That's three plus pitches for the youngster, and a game that will be tough to top.

Update: Bob Holloman threw a no-hitter in his first start, and Wilson Alvarez did it in his second start. That's it for earliest no-hitters.

Update: Bob Shvodian sends this note:

Tonight Sox 2B D. Pedroia saved rookie C. Bucholz's no hitter with a diving stop and quick throw to nip M. Tejada at 1B. 51 years ago in 1956, Sox 2B Billy Goodman saved Mel Parnell's no-hitter with a diving catch of a liner headed to the outfield.

Dan Haren and Kelvim Escobar both came back to the pack today as each pitched poorly. The two started the day .05 earned runs apart. Haren gave up five runs in six innings to raise his ERA to 2.87. That gave Escobar a golden opportunity to take the lead, but he allowed five runs in 2 2/3 innings to inflate his ERA to 2.99. Both pitchers take losses, and now 0.40 earned runs separate 1st from 6th in the AL ERA race.

For the second time this season, John Gibbons submitted an incorrect lineup card.

Prior to the game, Gibbons slotted first baseman Lyle Overbay and second baseman Aaron Hill into the sixth and seventh spots of the batting order, respectively, against the Mariners (73-61). That was where their names were listed on the lineup card that is posted daily inside the Blue Jays' clubhouse.

"Every day we go out, we look at the lineup card and we saw where we were," said Hill, motioning to where the card is placed near the clubhouse doors. "We'll have to pay more attention to all the lineups, I guess, instead of just this one."

Hill's last remark referred to the fact that the lineup card that was given to home-plate umpire Marty Foster and Mariners manager John McLaren had him batting sixth and Overbay seventh. Gibbons approved the lineup card before the game with his signature, but he didn't review the order first.

"My job is to go through and review that and I didn't review it," Gibbons said. "That was a screwup. The one posted out there in the room was right. The one that was printed up, I didn't review it before I signed it. That's all."

Seeing the error, McLaren waited for an opportune time to reveal Gibbons' mistake. In the second, Overbay flew out to left field, and Hill followed by pulling a pitch from Batista into left for a one-out double. With that, McLaren emerged from the dugout and pointed out that Hill had batted out of turn, according to his lineup card.

"It was our trump card," McLaren said. "When Hill got on with a double, we used the trump card. If it would have gone on the whole game, we would have kept the trump card the whole game."

This one didn't cost the Blue Jays the game, just a hit. But earlier in the year, sending Royce Clayton out to short when John Mcdonald was printed on the lineup card cost the Jays a game. I've seldom seen these mistakes made, but to have it happen twice in one season means the Jays really need to review their quality control.

The Mariners have different lineup problems as they lose 2-1. They've scored just 25 runs during the eight game losing streak.

Alex Rodriguez hit home run number 45 today as he drove in four runs after having his bat confiscated.

Tampa Bay had Rodriguez's bat confiscated in a classic case of gamesmanship - one inning after umpires took away Akinori Iwamura's unusual model when Yankees manager Joe Torre questioned if it was legal.

"It's just retaliation. There's nothing wrong with Alex Rodriguez. He's a great player. It was tit-for-tat entirely," Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I said, 'It's an illegal bat.' I said, 'I can't see inside it, but there might be something inside that bat. I don't have X-ray vision. He's got 45 home runs, it's Sept. 1.' That was my argument."

Both confiscated bats were sent to the commissioner's office for inspection.

Iwamura didn't have that luck, going 0 for 4 with a walk.

Alex's home run was his 164th since joining the Yankees in 2004. There's very tight race for most home runs in that time span between four players. Just six home runs separate David Ortiz from Adam Dunn, with Pujols and A-Rod in between. With all four over 160, each member of the quartet has a good chance to producing over 200 home runs in a five year span.

The Twins won Saturday afternoon, defeating the Royals 6-4. Morneau walked and scored a run, but went 0 for 3. His season averages are now .280/.346/.518, good numbers, but I wonder if Twins fans expected more? Those are all very close to his career averages, but given his great four months of 2006, and that he's twenty six years old, I really thought there was a good chance he'd carry that great finish over to 2007. It's a good year, it's better than the average AL first baseman this season (.269/.348/.447), but it's not the kind of season that carries a team. It also makes me believe his 2006 finish was a fluke, not a real improvement. I'm curious to have Minnesota fans weigh in. It doesn't look like the lung injury hurt him, as he played very well in July.

The Mets look like they'll have Pedro Martinez for the month of September.

Martinez did a great job throwing 53 pitches in a Friday night bullpen session making the Mets' decision to activate him easy. The three-time Cy Young winner underwent surgery last Oct. 5.

"I'm happy to say he's going to take the ball for us Monday in Cincinnati," Mets manager Willie Rudolph said Saturday before a game against the Atlanta Braves. "It's great to have him back in the fold."

Randolph said Martinez threw "crisp, nice and free" and said the throws appeared to be "effortless coming out of his hand."

He'll take Orlando Hernandez's slot as El Duque needed a cortisone shot for his right foot. The thing to watch with Pedro is how well he changes speeds on Monday. If he has his changeup, he'll be fine.

On top of that, the Mets took the Braves 5-1 Saturday afternoon. Mike Pelfry was effectively wild, walking three and hitting a batter in six innings of work, but striking out seven and allowing just one hit. It was his first win of the year, and the walks were typical but the strikeouts were not. That helped him keep the hits off the board, and drop Atlanta 6 1/2 games back in the east.

Ian Kennedy makes his Yankees debut this afternoon as roster expand for the remainder of the season. The Yankees give what appears to be a fairly easy task as he faces Tampa Bay and Edwin Jackson. The Devil Rays starter, however, pitched well in August, allowing a 2.45 ERA in five starts. On top of that, the Devil Rays are on a roll, winning 8 of their last 10 games.

The race for the AL ERA title is on Fox this afternoon as Dan Haren at 2.72 faces Detroit and Kelvim Escobar at 2.77 takes on Texas. Haren started strong, but Kelvim posted a 2.01 ERA over the last two months, while Dan's ERA in that time is over 4.00.

The late game in San Diego offers what may be the best matchup of the day as Jake Peavy takes on Derek Lowe. Jake goes for his sixteenth win, which would set a new career high for the Cooler King. In 14 1/3 innings, Lowe has yet to allow a home run to the Padres.

Enjoy!

Winning a division is nice, but the best record in the AL gains you home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Angels moved 1/2 game ahead of the Red Sox last night. After the Red Sox fell 9-8 to Baltimore (the Orioles allowed five runs over the last three innings but managed to break their losing streak), LAnaheim played a tight game with Texas. The Rangers came back to tie the game at six, scoring single runs in the 8th and 9th, but the Angels took the game in the bottom of the tenth. They're not going wire-to-wire this season, but they're close:

This is only the second time in the Angels' 47-year history that they have been alone in first place at the end of every month from April through August. The other time was 1985, when they went 2-6 during a critical stretch in the final two weeks and were overtaken by the eventual World Series champion Kansas City Royals with three games left on the schedule.

With Seattle losing their seventh straight, the Angels lead in the west is up to six. Given their record at home, ending the season with the best record in the AL would certainly work to their advantage.

For the second day in a row, the Arizona bullpen failed to shut down the opposition, only this time there weren't enough runs on the board to prevent a loss. Livan Hernandez allowed ten base runners over seven innings, but no runs. The bullpen allowed eleven base runners over three innings and seven of them scored (although the final four runs were unearned). For the year, the team has allowed a .243 batting average from the 8th inning on, vs. a .260 batting average overall.

Cory Sullivan drove in two in the eighth with a pinch-hit single, then tripled and scored the eventual winning run in the tenth. The Rockies gain a game in the standings and trail both San Diego and Arizona by five games.

I saw the top of the ninth, and Tony Clark made one of the great stretches I've seen. Drew fielded a grounder, but threw to the outfield side of first. Tony fell toward the ball, keeping his toe on the bag, and caught the ball fully extended. It was a very close play, and Hurdle was ejected arguing the call. There wasn't a great replay angle, but the one behind first base appeared to show Clark held the bag when he caught the ball. Just an amazing play, one he probably doesn't make if he's an inch or two shorter.

The Day by Day Database is up to date.