The final chapter will be released tomorrow.

Date	San Diego	Colorado	Rockies deficit
September 16	Padres 5, Giants 1	Rockies 13, Marlins 0	-4.5
September 17	Padres 3, Pirates 0	OFF	-5
September 18	Padres 5, Pirates 3	Rockies 3, 9 Dodgers 1, 8	-4.5
September 19	Padres 5, Pirates 3	Rockies 6, Dodgers 5	-4.5
September 20	Padres 6, Pirates 3	Rockies 9, Dodgers 4	-4.5
September 21	Rockies 2, Padres 1 (14)	Rockies 2, Padres 1 (14)	-3.5
September 22	Rockies 6, Padres 2	Rockies 6, Padres 2	-2.5
September 23	Rockies 7, Padres 3	Rockies 7, Padres 3	-1.5
September 24	Giants 9, Rockies 4	OFF	-1
September 25	Padres 6, Giants 4	Rockies 9, Dodgers 7	-1
September 26	Padres 11, Giants 3	Rockies 2, Dodgers 0	-1
September 27	Padres 9, Brewers 5	Rockies 10, Dodgers 4	-1
September 28	Padres 6, Brewers 3	Diamondbacks 4, Rockies 2	-2
September 29	Brewers 4, Padres 3 (11)	Rockies 11, Diamonbacks 3	-1
September 30	Brewers 11, Padres 6	Rockies 4, Diamondbacks 3	EVEN

The 1974 Baltimore Orioles were the last team to win 13 of their final 14 games. That was enough for them to win the AL East by two games over the Yankees. The 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers were the last team in the NL to win 13 of their final 14 games, part of a 15-1 stretch to give them the NL flag by two games over the Giants.

The 1965 Dodgers gave up a total of 15 runs in their final 14 games.

The Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres have finished 162 games and they're tied for the wild card at 89-73.

There will be a one-game playoff Monday in Denver. It will be televised on TBS at 4:37 pm PT.

This will be the 11th tiebreaker in major league history.

Previous tiebreaker playoffs:

1. 1946 NL - St. Louis beats Brooklyn, 2 games to 0 (4-2, 8-4)
2. 1948 AL - Cleveland beats Boston in one game playoff, 8-3
3. 1951 NL - New York beats Brooklyn, 2 games to 1 (3-1, 0-10, 5-4)
4. 1959 NL - Los Angeles beats Milwaukee, 2 games to 0 (3-2, 6-5)
5. 1962 NL - San Francisco beats Los Angeles, 2 games to 1 (8-0, 7-8, 6-4)
6. 1978 AL East - New York beats Boston 5-4.
7. 1980 NL West - Houston beats Los Angeles, 7-1.
8. 1995 AL West - Seattle beats California 9-1.
9. 1998 NL Wild Card - Chicago beats San Francisco 5-3.
10. 1999 NL Wild Card - New York beats Cincinnati 5-0.

In the Griddle contest to pick the last five, it's down to two entries. If the Rockies beat San Diego, ToyCannon will win. If the Padres win, David Y will be the winner.

Jake Peavy versus the Rockies.

Josh Fogg versus the Padres.

The New York Mets became the 21st team eliminated from postseason contention after losing at home to Florida 8-1 and Philadelphia winning the NL East with a 6-1 win over Washington at home.

Thanks to commenter Johnny Nucleo for the coelacanth photo.

This was originally the photo designated for Colorado.

The Cubs and the Reds were the first teams to finish their regular season.

Cincinnati won 8-4 despite Alfonso Soriano's seventh leadoff homer of the season. Ryan Demptser took the loss and pitched in the fourth inning as Lou Piniella wanted to get him some work. Dempster gave up a 3-run homer to Joey Votto that was the difference.

The Cubs should open the playoffs Wednesday, most likely in Arizona.

Jimmy Rollins tripled in the sixth inning at Philadelphia giving him 20 for the season. He has now surpassed 20 in all three extra base hit categories.

Curtis Granderson of Detroit also has done that this year.

Prior to Granderson and Rollins, it had only be done by Wildfire Schulte in 1911, Jim Bottomley in 1928, Jeff Heath in 1941, Willie Mays in 1957, and George Brett in 1979.

If you add in more than 20 steals, then it's just Schulte, Mays, Granderson, and Rollins.

- H. Ramirez walked

- D. Uggla grounded into fielder's choice, H. Ramirez out at second

- J. Hermida singled to right, D. Uggla to third

- M. Cabrera singled to left, D. Uggla scored, J. Hermida to second

- C. Ross doubled to deep right, M. Cabrera and J. Hermida scored, C. Ross scored on T. Glavine's throwing error

- M. Jacobs singled to left

- M. Treanor walked, M. Jacobs to second

- A. De Aza singled to left, M. Jacobs to third, M. Treanor to second

- D. Willis hit by pitch, M. Jacobs scored, M. Treanor to third, A. De Aza to second

- J. Sosa relieved T. Glavine

- H. Ramirez struck out swinging

- D. Uggla doubled to deep left, M. Treanor and A. De Aza scored, D. Willis to third

- J. Hermida grounded out to first

7 runs, 6 hits, 1 errors

Florida 7, NY Mets 0

10:10 am PT - Dontrelle Willis (Florida) vs Tom Glavine (New York) - Willis is 11-3 with a 2.49 ERA in his career against the Mets. Glavine is 17-18 with a 3.83 ERA in his career against Florida.

10:35 am PT - Jason Bergmann (Washington) vs Jamie Moyer (Philadelphia) - Bergmann is 0-1 with a 3.29 ERA (7 games) against Philadelphia. Moyer is 7-4 with a 3.06 ERA against Washington/Montreal, but some of those games were played in 1986.

11:05 am PT - Brett Tomko (San Diego) vs Jeff Suppan (Milwaukee) - Tomko is 7-2, 3.70 against Milwaukee. Suppan is 3-3 with a 6.26 ERA against the Padres.

12:05 pm PT - Doug Davis Yusmeiro Petit (Arizona) vs Ubaldo Jimenez (Colorado) - Davis is 2-3 with a 3.00 ERA against Colorado. Petit will start instead of Davis as the DBacks have homefield clinched. Petit has never pitched against Colorado. Jimenez had no decision in his only other start against Arizona and gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings.

What do the oddsmakers think:

Florida is +195 and New York is -210, Washington is +204 and Philadelphia is -220, San Diego is +105 and Milwaukee is -113, Arizona is +212 and Colorado is -230

San Diego is 89-72, New York, Philadelphia, and Colorado are 88-73.

• If New York, Philadelphia, and San Diego win - The Padres are the wild card. New York plays at Philadelphia Monday to decide NL East. Colorado's game wouldn't matter in any scenario where the Padres win.
• If New York, Philadelphia, and Colorado win and San Diego loses - New York plays at Philadelphia Monday to decide the NL East. Then there would be a three-team playoff for the wild card. Colorado would draw a bye on Tuesday. San Diego would play at the park of the NL East loser. The winner of that game would host Colorado to decide the wild card. (This info updated.) (Also, Colorado could opt to play two games and be home for both of them, which seems idiotic.)
• If New York and San Diego win and Philadelphia loses - The Mets win the NL East, the Padres are the wild card.
• If New York, Philadelphia, and San Diego lose, and Colorado wins - The Mets would go to Philadelphia to decide the NL East. San Diego would play at Colorado for the wild card.
• If Philadelphia and San Diego win and New York loses - The Phillies win the NL East and the Padres win the wild card.
• If Philadelphia, New York, San Diego, and Colorado lose - The Padres win the wild card. The Mets play at Philadelphia to decide the NL East.
• If Philadelphia and Colorado win and New York and San Diego lose - The Phillies win the NL East. The Padres travel to Denver for a playoff to decide the NL wild card. We have a winner!
  
• If Philadelphia and New York win and San Diego and Colorado lose - The Mets play at Philadelphia Monday to decide the NL East. The loser of that game would play San Diego. San Diego would play at New York, but would be home to Philadelphia.

Other notes

• The AL teams are now seeded: Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York.
• Arizona is the #1 team in the NL. Chicago is the #3 team. The NL East winner will be #2.
• Florida, Washington, and Texas do not have complete games this year and will likely be the first teams to finish a season without one.
• Magglio Ordonez leads Ichiro Suzuki by a margin of .360 to .351 in the AL batting race. Matt Holliday leads Chipper Jones .340 to .339 in the NL batting race.
• Jimmy Rollins has now come up to the plate a major league record 774 times.
• Jake Peavy, barring a horrific outing in a possible playoff tiebreaker game, will win the NL Pitching Triple Crown with 19 wins, 234 strikeouts, and a 2.36 ERA. Randy Johnson was the last pitcher to do that in the NL back in 2002.
• Scott Hairston has the potential of playing for both the NL West champ (Arizona) and the wild card (San Diego) this year. Byung-Hyun Kim of Florida has the potential to do the same except the teams would be Arizona and Colorado. Jose Molina has played for the AL West champ (Los Angeles) and the AL wild card (New York).
• Since 1900, only five pitchers have started 30 games in a season and had a higher ERA than Philadelphia's Adam Eaton (6.29). Jose Lima has done it twice.

On average, the times were OK.

Date	Mets	Phillies	Leader
September 12	Mets 4, Braves 3	Rockies 12, Phillies 0	Mets +7
September 13	OFF	Phillies 12, Rockies 4	Mets +6.5
September 14	Phillies 3, Mets 2 (10)	Phillies 3, Mets 2 (10)	Mets +5.5
September 15	Phillies 5, Mets 3	Phillies 5, Mets 3	Mets +4.5
September 16	Phillies 10, Mets 6	Phillies 10, Mets 6	Mets +3.5
September 17	Nationals 12, Mets 4	Phillies 13, Cardinals 11	Mets +2.5
September 18	Nationals 9, Mets 8	Phillies 7, Cardinals 4 (14)	Mets +1.5
September 19	Mets 8, Nationals 4	Cardinals 2, Phillies 1 (10)	Mets +2.5
September 20	Marlins 8, Mets 7 (10)	Phillies 7, Nationals 6	Mets +1.5
September 21	Mets 9, Marlins 6	Phillies 6, Nationals 3	Mets +1.5
September 22	Mets 7, Marlins 2	Phillies 4, Nationals 1 (10)	Mets +1.5
September 23	Mets 7, Marlins 6 (10)	Nationals 5, Phillies 3	Mets +2.5
September 24	Nationals 13, Mets 4	OFF	Mets +2
September 25	Nationals 10, Mets 9	Braves 10, Phillies 6	Mets +2
September 26	Nationals 9, Mets 6	Phillies 5, Braves 2	Mets +1
September 27	Cardinals 3, Mets 0	Phillies 6, Braves 4	TIE
September 28	Marlins 7, Mets 4	Phillies 6, Nationals 0	Phillies +1
September 29	Mets 13, Marlins 0	Nationals 4, Phillies 2	TIE

With San Diego's loss to Milwaukee, the Arizona Diamondbacks clinched the NL West and the top spot in the NL for the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Although there is a three-way tie for first with 9 points (Sam DC, Steven Alpert, Matt Johnson), the likeliest winner should be David Y. He presently has 8 points and still has one team that is very likely to be eliminated: Colorado.

Of the three leaders with 9 points, all of them have Philadelphia as the last team eliminated. So if there's a reverse choke by the Phillies, then the winner would be Matt Johnson as he has chosen a date of October 1, which would be closer than the other two entries. The Phillies could not be eliminated until September 30 at the earliest.

If San Diego loses its last two in Milwaukee and the Rockies win two at home and then a playoff game, then the contest would likely be won by ToyCannon.

There were five games that affected the NL pennant race. Two teams clinched spots, one team was eliminated, and two teams were pushed to the brink. So with a slightly different format, we'll look at the games as they started:

4:05 pm PT - Washington takes on Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park. Tim Redding takes on Cole Hamels. For four innings the game is scoreless, but in the bottom of the fifth, Jimmy Rollins singles in two and one batter later, Chase Utley doubles home Rollins. The Phillies lead 3-0.

Hamels takes over and shuts out the Nats over 8 innings with 13 strikeouts. Ryan Howard homers in the seventh and the Phillies win 6-0. Time of game: 3 hours even.

Continue reading...

Arizona is headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. The Arizona now has 90 wins and will be no worse than the wild card. San Diego trails by one game. The teams tied for second in the wild card, New York and Colorado, both have 73 losses.

Is this sufficiently Repozian?

The Milwaukee Brewers became the 20th team to be eliminated from postseason play tonight.

Three contestants in the Griddle contest are tied for the lead with 9 points: Sam DC, Matt Johnson, and Steven Alpert. David Y has 8 points.

The Mets are going to cause some problems with this contest I fear.

Image from The American Memory Collection of the Library of Congress

The Chicago Cubs became the first second NL team to clinch a playoff spot with a 6-0 win in Cincinnati combined with a 6-3 loss by the Brewers at home to San Diego.

The Cubs will now attempt to win a World Series for the first time since the owner of the pictured arm pitched for them.

Note: Arizona actually clinched a playoff spot a few minutes earlier with their win in Colorado.

TBS today announced its four sets of announcing duos for the Division Series:

1. Chip Caray and Tony Gwynn, They are the first string. Gwynn is good. Caray is not.
2. Dick Stockton and Bob Brenly. With my luck I'll be stuck watching these guys, who are awful
3. Ted Robinson and Steve Stone. With my luck I'll miss these guys, who know stuff
4. Don Orsillo and Joe Simpson. Will Orsillo get the Red Sox Division Series? Will Simpson sound like he's awake?

If a game on TBS goes long and cuts into time for the next game, TNT will show the other game. The "other" game will depend upon where you are for its "otherness."

The Boston Red Sox have shut down rookie right-hander Clay Buchholz for the season because of shoulder fatigue. He will not pitch in the playoffs for Boston.

The Red Sox were keeping their options open for ways Buchholz could help during the postseason, be it as a starter or a reliever. But it became more apparent with each passing week that it would not be a wise move with respect to Buchholz's future.

"Obviously this was not our first choice or even our second choice," said Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein. "This was pretty much our last choice, our last option. Unfortunately this was something, that after discussions with the medical staff, it's something that we have to do."

If the Rockies make the playoffs, it's possible another Buchholz, Taylor, will get to pitch. The two pitchers are not related as far as I can tell.

Cecil Cooper was named permanent manager of the Houston Astros and was given a contract through 2009, with an option for 2010.

"Cecil is a perfect fit for the managerial job based on his leadership and experience," chairman and CEO Drayton McLane said. "We look forward to his influence on our team as we move forward on our quest to bring a World Series championship to Houston, and we feel he is the most qualified person to help us accomplish that goal."

The NL playoff situation can best be described as "murky." One team was eliminated, but seven teams are still fighting for four spots and it may not be decided until Sunday. Or Monday. Or Tuesday.

And there won't be a five-way tie. Nate Silver explains at Baseball Prospectus.

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

Shea Stadium, New York - The St. Louis Cardinals, in town for just one day to make up a rainout from June, send Joel Pineiro to the hill to face off against Pedro Martinez.

St. Louis scored a run in the first and then two in the third. Pineiro gave up just three hits in eight innings and Jason Isringhausen pitched a 1-2-3 ninth and the Cardinals won 3-0.

Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia - The Phillies scored four runs in the first against John Smoltz thanks to two errors and a Ryan Howard homer. The Phillies won 6-4 to move into a tie for first place. The Braves were eliminated and Ryan Howard struck out for a major league record 196th time.

The Mets will play three games at home against Florida. The Phillies will host Washington for three games.

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

The Cubs lost their tenth straight game to the Marlins over the past two years, losing 6-4 at Dolphins Stadium.

But the Brewers couldn't make up any ground for the second straight game. They lost to the Padres 9-5 as they made five errors.

Chicago has a magic number of 2 and become the first NL team to clinch a playoff spot Friday if they beat the Reds in Cincinnati and the Brewers lose at home to San Diego.

Houston caught the Reds for fourth place in the division with a 4-3 win in Cincinnati.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

Coming down to the final weekend, there are still three teams that could win the division.

First place Arizona, thanks to Micah Owings 4 for 4 day with 3 doubles, beat Pittsburgh 8-0.

The DBacks have a magic number of 3 and a one-game lead over San Diego.

Colorado won its 11th straight game with a 10-4 win in Los Angeles. Colorado returns home Friday to face Arizona to finish the regular season.

NL Wild Card (Desi Relaford Division):

The Mets are now part of the wild card discussion. San Diego leads three teams, Philadelphia, New York, and Colorado, by one game.

Friday's pitching matchups of interest:

Tim Redding (Washington) vs Cole Hamels (Philadelphia), Carlos Zambrano (Chicago) vs Bronson Arroyo (Cincinnati), Byung-Hyun Kim (Florida) vs Oliver Perez (New York), Brandon Webb (Arizona) vs Jeff Francis (Colorado), Greg Maddux (San Diego) vs Chris Capuano (Milwaukee)

AL East/Wild Card (Ramiro Mendoza Division):

The Red Sox missed a chance to drop its magic number for the division to 1 and lost to the Twins at home, 5-4. Joe Nathan pitched out of trouble in the eighth and ninth for the save.

Yankee manager Joe Torre sent out most of his reserves at Tropicana Field, but the Yankees won anwyay, 3-1. Jose Molina drove in the winning runs. Scott Kazmir struck out 10 Yankees to give him 239 for the season, four more than Johan Santana. With Santana not scheduled to start again this year, Kazmir should finish on top in the league.

Baltimore beat Toronto.

AL Central (Bob Feller Division):

Cleveland missed another chance to guarantee homefield advantage for at least round of the ALDS after losing to Seattle 4-2. The game ended when Kenji Johjima picked Grady Sizemore off of first base. George Sherrill became the first pitcher since Randy Flores back in 2002 to get a save by having a runner picked off to end the game and not retiring a batter.

The White Sox shut out the Royals on three hits for the second straight night.

AL West (Tim Salmon Division):

The Angels finish up in Oakland. Texas finishes up at Seattle.

The Angels will likely need a sweep to get a shot at getting homefield advantage in the ALDS.

Friday's pitching matchups for games that affect where teams get slotted:

Kevin Slowey (Minnesota) vs Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston), Mike Mussina (New York) vs Jon Leicester (Baltimore), C.C. Sabathia (Cleveland) vs Kyle Davies (Kansas City), John Lackey (Los Angeles) vs Dan Haren (Oakland).

The Atlanta Braves became the 19th team to be eliminated from postseason contention when they lost at Philadelphia 6-4.

That loss knocked the Braves out of the NL East and wild card races at the same time. New York, Philadelphia, and San Diego all have 87 wins and the Braves have 76 losses.

None of the 16 entries in the Griddle contest chose Atlanta as one of the final five teams to be eliminated.

Ryan Howard of the Phillies struck out in the 3rd inning against John Smoltz. That was his 196th strikeout of the season, breaking Adam Dunn's previous record from 2004.

Milwaukee's Ben Sheets will not make his scheduled start tomorrow against San Diego as his injured hamstring has not healed sufficiently for him to go more than an inning or two. Chris Capuano, who is 5-12 and appeared in 21 straight games that have all ended in losses, will make the start instead.

Pitcher Seth McClung and manager Ned Yost are also facing suspensions after being ejected Wednesday night for throwing at Albert Pujols.

Arizona manager Bob Melvin decided to start Micah Owings at the last minute today in Pittsburgh instead of Brandon Webb because he feared that rain delays (and there is one now) might make Webb unavailable for the whole game.

So Owings started and in addition to shutting out Pittsburgh over 7 innings, Owings has gone 4 for 4 with 3 doubles. The only other pitcher in the last 50 years to have at least four hits in a game and three extra base hits was ... Micah Owings. That was this game in Atlanta on August 18.

Three other pitchers in the last 50 years have had three doubles in a game: Andy Messersmith, Bob Gibson, and Don Ferrarese.

During the radio broadcast of today's game between the DBacks and Pirates in Pittsburgh, Pirates radio analyst Steve Blass told a story about how the San Diego Padres flew out to Pittsburgh at the end of the 1973 season to make up a game that he said had no bearing on the playoffs. And he said the Padres won 22-3.

First of all, the Padres flew out to Pittsburgh because the Pirates still had a chance to finish in a tie for the NL East. At the end of play on September 30, the Mets were 81-79, the Cardinals were 81-81, and the Pirates were 80-81.

On October 1, the Mets were scheduled to play a doubleheader in Chicago and the Padres flew out to makeup an earlier rainout. The Padres had actually finished their regular season on a Saturday, September 29. I'm assuming that was because the Chargers had a home game.

So the Padres had a day off to make the always fun San Diego to Pittsburgh commute. If the Pirates won and the Cubs swept the Mets in the doubleheader, there would have been a three-way tie for the NL East.

The Mets won the division though by winning the first game at Wrigley by a 6-4 margin before a crowd of 1,913. The second game of the doubleheader was canceled. The Pirates had been playing at the same time and just finished out their game. The Padres won, but they didn't score 22 runs.

They scored four runs. The Padres won 4-3. A crowd of 2,572 looked on.

As today's game has gone on, the Pirates announcers (Blass, Lanny Frattare, and Greg Brown) have pretty much stopped talking about the game and are discussing characters from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Wild card leader San Diego is facing the NL Central's second place team, Milwaukee, in the Cream City for the final four games of the season.

Since the first full season of three-division play, this is the first time the Padres have been the odd team out in the NL West at the end of the year and forced to play outside of the division. This honor tends to go to Arizona (finishing off a series in Pittsburgh today) or Colorado. San Diego has not played a game in Milwaukee since June of 2006.

Since the two teams first played in 1998 and including the three games they played this year (a Padres sweep in San Diego), San Diego leads the all-time series by a 39-28 margin. The Brewers do have a winning record in Milwaukee in this series, but by just a 17-16 margin.

The games they have played before will likely not be long remembered. This game on May 31, 2003 may make you rub your eyes when you see who the winning and losing pitchers were.

There have been just three players whose major league careers have seen them play just for Milwaukee and San Diego and no one else: Brandon Kolb, Jimmy Osting, and Santiago Perez.

The Yankees clinched the last playoff spot in the AL, but we still don't know who will win the division. So before the AL East and AL Wild Card are renamed for either Ted Williams or Lou Gehrig, the two divisions will have the same name. They will be named for the only player to play his entire major league career for BOTH the Yankees and Red Sox AND win a World Series with each team.

Without further ado...

AL East/Wild Card (Ramiro Mendoza Division):

The Red Sox lowered the magic number to 2 with an 11-6 win over Oakland. Mike Timlin got the win in relief and Dustin Pedroia hit a home run. Boston reclaimed the #1 spot in the AL as they hold a tiebreaker edge over Cleveland.

The Yankees clinched their 13th straight playoff berth with a 12-4 rout of Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field. Rookie Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless inning to lower his ERA to 0.40. Tampa Bay rookie retired his first major league batter in his third game overall. But he gave up three runs and his ERA is now 189.00. Presently, Ridgway is tied with Joe Cleary for the highest measureable career ERA. (Several players have infinite ERAs by giving up runs without retiring a batter.)

AL West (Tim Salmon Division):

The Angels took it very easy in Texas and got swept, losing the finale 16-2.

Oakland and Los Angeles have a day off before they face off for three games in Oakland to end the season. The Athletics will likely finish the season having to face each of the three division winners. Texas and Oakland are now tied for third.

Seattle played a road game at home in the first game of a doubleheader against Cleveland. And they played like they were elsewhere and lost 12-4. But the Mariners won the nightcap 3-2 in 10 innings.

AL Central (Bob Feller Division):

Because of the split in Seattle, Cleveland lost its #1 spot in the AL. Cleveland can guarantee home field in the first round of the playoffs with one more win or an Angels loss.

Rains kept stopping the Twins-Tigers game in Detroit and once the Yankees eliminated the Tigers, they cut the game short in the top of the sixth. The Tigers won 9-4.

Jon Garland threw a 3-hit shutout to put the White Sox back into fourth place in the division. And they play again Thursday! Woo hoo!

Tomorrow's pitching matchups that might matter to some people:

Boof Bonser (Minnesota) vs Josh Beckett (Boston), Phil Hughes (New York) vs Scott Kazmir (Tampa Bay), Paul Byrd (Cleveland) vs Cha Seung Baek (Seattle)

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

The New York Mets continue to amaze and astound. Unfortunately for them, they are astounding people with their ways of losing games at home.

New York led Washington 5-0 after three innings at Shea and lost 9-6 to the Nats. Moises Alou did extend his hitting streak to 30 games. New York hosts St. Louis in a makeup game Thursday night and then has Florida in to finish the season.

The Phillies are 1 game back after Kyle Lohse was sharp for seven innings, giving up just a 2-run homer to Mark Texeira, as the Phillies beat Atlanta 5-2. The Braves can be eliminated Thursday if they lose or both New York and San Diego win. Philadelphia and Atlanta play again Thursday and then Washington comes to Philadelphia on the weekend to finish the regulars season.

As for Florida see below.

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

The Cubs lost their ninth straight game to Florida over the past two seasons, falling 7-4 at Dolphins Stadium. Florida used eight pitchers to get the win. Logan Kensing was credited with the W.

Milwaukee had a chance to move to one game back if they could finish off a sweep of the stumbling Cardinals. But the Brewers offense was dormant much of the night against Brad Thompson and the Cardinals won 7-3. The Brewers tied an NL record by using five pitchers in the eighth inning (Ray King, Seth McClung, Derrick Turnbow, Brian Shouse, and Chris Spurling). The Cardinals scored four times in that frame.

The Cubs magic number is 3, the lowest of any NL division leader. They play the Marlins again Thursday afternoon and then finish up at Cincinnati. Milwaukee will be hosting San Diego for four games starting Thursday. Bruce Froemming's crew, minus the suspended Mike Winters, will be working the series in Milwaukee.

Houston banged out four home runs in Cincinnati to move one game behind the Reds for fourth place in the division.

Pittsburgh? They resemble Florida. See below.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

With four games left in the season, three teams are within two games of the top.

Arizona lost its second straight game in Pittsburgh. This time it was by a 5-1 margin.

So San Diego had a chance to move one game back and they had Jake Peavy going for them in San Francisco against Pat Misch. It was Barry Bonds' last game as a Giant. And it wasn't even close and the Padres cruised 11-3. It was Peavy's 19th win of the year.

Colorado is just two games back as the Rockies won their tenth straight. They beat the Dodgers 2-0 in Los Angeles. Colorado plays Los Angeles again on Thursday and then hosts Arizona over the weekend.

NL Wild Card (Steve Finley Division):

San Diego leads Philadelphia and Colorado by one game.

Tomorrow's games with postseason implications:

Brandon Webb (Arizona) vs John Van Benschoten (Pittsburgh), Steve Trachsel (Chicago) vs Scott Olsen (Florida), John Smoltz (Atlanta) vs Kyle Kendrick (Philadelphia), Joel Pineiro (St. Louis) vs Pedro Martinez (New York), Jack Cassel (San Diego) vs Yovani Gallardo (Milwaukee), Franklin Morales (Colorado) vs Esteban Loaiza (Los Angeles)

Detroit was eliminated from postseason contention when the Yankees beat Tampa Bay 12-4 in St. Petersburg.

The Tigers are Team #18 to be eliminated. Seven entries in the Griddle contest correctly tabbed Detroit in this place and earned the full five points.

The AL playoff teams are set! The Yankees routed Tampa Bay 12-4 at Tropicana Field to clinch the last playoff spot. It will be either the wild card or the AL East title. Boston leads by 3 games with 4 left for each team or a magic number of 2.

Mark Ecko, the fashion designer who owns Barry Bonds record-setting 756th home run ball, has said that the people have spoken and they want the ball branded with an asterisk and then presented to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ecko claimed there were over 10 million votes and 47% chose the branding option.

In the linked MLB.com story, the Hall of Fame said they would be happy to accept the ball in whatever condition it arrived.

One team was maddeningly close to clinching a playoff spot and a three-way tie in one division was thwarted by some late-inning heroics.

AL East (Pee-Wee Wanninger Division):

The Red Sox got nine hits and ten walks against Oakland pitching and won 7-3. The Red Sox increased their lead in the division to 3 games and dropped their magic number to 3 because ...

The Yankees could not hold on to a 5-0 lead at Tampa Bay. Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam in the third, but in the fifth, the Devil Rays rallied to score six times on an RBI double by Dioner Navarro, a bases-loaded walk by Akinori Iwamura, and then a grand slam by Jorge Velandia. The Yankees tied it in the 8th, but the Devil Rays won it in the 10th on a Navarro homer, 7-6. Yankee pitchers walked 11 Tampa Bay batters.

The Blue Jays clobbered Baltimore, 11-4.

AL West (Tim Salmon Division):

The Angels dropped their second straight after clinching the division, losing at Texas 3-1.

Seattle was eliminated from postseason play with a 4-3 loss to Cleveland in 12 innings at home. An errant pickoff throw from Ryan Rowland-Smith set up Kenny Lofton's game-winning sacrifice fly.

AL Central (Bob Feller Division):

Cleveland held on to the #1 spot in the AL by 1/2 game over Boston. The extra game will be made up tomorrow in an odd doubleheader in Seattle. The Indians will be the home team in the first game and Seattle will be the home team in the nightcap. The doubleheader is the last game to be made up from Seattle's snowout in Cleveland this April.

YORMAN BAZARDO threw seven shutout innings as the Tigers beat the Twins, 8-0.

Kansas City beat Chicago and the two are tied for last place in the division.

AL Wild Card (Dave Collins Division):

The Yankees lead Detroit by 4 1/2 games and their magic number to make the playoffs is 1. Still.

Wednesday's pitching matchups for games with postseason implications:

Joe Saunders (Los Angeles) vs Luis Mendoza (Texas), Joe Blanton (Oakland) vs Jon Lester (Boston), Johan Santana (Minnesota) vs Jair Jurrjens (Detroit), Fausto Carmona and Jeremy Sowers (Cleveland) vs Ryan Feierabend and Jarrod Washburn (Seattle), Chien-Ming Wang (New York) vs J.P. Howell (Tampa Bay).

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

Arizona, the division leader and the team with the best record in the NL, took on Pittsburgh, loser of nine straight. The DBacks came back from a 5-1 deficit with four runs in the eighth. But Josh Phelps drove in a run in the eighth and the Pirates won 6-5.

San Diego trailed San Francisco 4-2 in the ninth with two outs and a runner on third and Brady Clark. Clark blooped a single to score one run. Oscar Robles worked a walk. And then Brian Giles hit a 3-run homer and the Padres moved two games back with a 6-4 win.

Arizona's magic number is still 4. Their magic number to make the playoff is 3.

Colorado is now three games back after winning its ninth straight, 9-7, in Los Angeles. The loss eliminated the Dodgers.

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

The first place Cubs had been cruising at home, but they were flat at last place Florida and lost 4-2. Dontrelle Willis went eight innings and gave up only a 2-run homer to Craig Monroe. The Cubs magic number is 4.

Second place Milwaukee is now just 2 games out after routing St. Louis 9-1. Prince Fielder hit a pair of home runs to bring his season total to 50. He is the youngest player ever to reach that mark.

Houston beat Cincinnati. The Astros could actually move up to fourth place!

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

Tom Glavine got knocked around early and the Nats built up a 10-3 lead going to the 9th at Shea. The Mets scored six runs and had the tying run on third, but Jon Rauch was able to get the final out. Washington won 10-9. The Mets magic number is 4.

The Phillies missed a chance to pick up a game and lost their tie with San Diego for the wild card when they lost at home to Atlanta 10-6. The Braves have won 9 of their last 11 games. They are four games behind the Mets.

NL Wild Card (Andy Ashby Division):

Before Brian Giles' ninth inning homer, the stage was set for a three-way tie for the wild card. But the Padres now are in the lead by one game over both Phiadelphia and Colorado. The Braves are 3 games back. The Padres magic number is 5.

Wednesday's pitching matchups for games with postseason implications:

Livan Hernandez (Arizona) vs Matt Morris (Pittsburgh), Tim Hudson (Atlanta) vs Kyle Lohse (Philadelphia), Jason Marquis (Chicago) vs Daniel Barone (Florida), Mike Bacsik (Washington) vs Philip Humber (New York), Brad Thompson (St. Louis) vs Carlos Villanueva (Milwaukee), Josh Fogg (Colorado) vs Derek Lowe (Los Angeles), Jake Peavy (San Diego) vs Pat Misch (San Francisco)

The Los Angeles Dodgers became the 16th team in the majors to be eliminated from postseason contention when they lost to Colorado at home 9-7 combined with San Diego's 6-4 win at San Francisco.

The Dodgers have now lost 77 games and the Padres have won 86, eliminating the Dodgers from a chance at the wild card.

10 of the 16 entries in the Griddle Contest to pick the Final Five eliminated had the Dodgers as one of their selections.

New Pirates president Frank Coonelly named a new general manager for the Pirates: Neal Huntington.

Huntington has worked for the last 10 years in the Cleveland front office.

Thanks to stolenmonkey86

(Updating with info from late night action):

The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Since the Yankees lost today and the Tigers did as well, the stage is now set for three teams to make their departure from postseason contention on Tuesday.

Both the Tigers and Mariners will be eliminated if they lose their games at home. Detroit is playing Minnesota and Seattle is playing Cleveland. If the Yankees win their game at Tampa Bay, that would eliminate both teams.

The Dodgers can be eliminated Tuesday if they lose at home to Colorado and:

1) San Diego wins Tuesday in San Francicso OR

2) Philadelphia wins Tuesday at home against Atlanta

The Dodgers would also be eliminated if the Padres win both tonight and tomorrow.

There are 15 teams out of the running now. Once team #18 goes up, then the contest kicks in, because that's when there are just five teams left.

Detroit and New York start at 4:05 pm PT and 4:10 pm PT respectively. The Mariners get underway at 7:05 pm PT.

I will be watching the clock to see which games end when. If the Yankees were to win their game in Tampa Bay before the game in Detroit ends, Seattle and Detroit would share the #16 spot and everybody else would be in the Final Five.

10 of the 16 entries included St. Louis in the Final Five, which they won't be part of. 15 of the 16 entries include Detroit. Only 2 entries included Seattle.

Atlanta, which could likely hold on for a few days, was not listed by anyone as being in the Final Five.

The Cubs, the NL Central leaders, were the most popular choice to be the last team out.

It's not going to take a high score to win this contest.

AL East (Pee-Wee Wanninger Division):

The Yankees lost a makeup game at home to Toronto, 4-1, as surprise starter Jesse Litsch kept the New York bats in check.

Boston's lead in the division increased to 2 games and their magic number dropped to win the division dropped to 5.

Boston finishes at home with two games against Oakland and four against Minnesota. New York finishes with three at Tampa Bay and three at Baltimore.

The Orioles won a makeup game at home against the Royals. Baltimore won all seven games against Kansas City this year.

AL West (Tim Salmon Division):

The Angels rested Vladimir Guerrero and lost in Texas 8-7. The Angels fell into the #3 slot in the overall AL record. They are one game behind #1 Cleveland and 2 in the AILC. However, the Angels have to finish with a better record than Cleveland to get homefield advantage.

AL Central (Bob Feller Division):

Cleveland was off before heading to Seattle for a four-game series in three days with a doubleheader Wednesday.

Detroit gave up just two runs to Minnesota, but failed to score any of their own and lost.

AL Wild Card (Dave Collins Division):

The Yankees will clinch a playoff spot with a win at Tampa Bay or losses by Detroit and Seattle tomorrow.

Tomorrow's pitching matchups for games with postseason implications:

Matt Garza (Minnesota) vs YORMAN BAZARDO (Detroit), Chad Gaudin (Oakland) vs Curt Schilling (Boston), Roger Clemens Kei Igawa (New York) vs Jason Hammel (Tampa Bay), Justin Moseley (Los Angeles) vs A.J. Murray (Texas) [Note the A in A.J. stands for Arlington], Aaron Laffey (Cleveland) vs Felix Hernandez (Seattle)

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

The Mets had seemed to have gotten back on track after two wins in Florida. They returned home to face Washington and they were slaughtered 13-4.

The Phillies were off before hosting Atlanta. The Mets lead is 2 games and their magic number is 5.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

The Padres found out that they have lost Milton Bradley AND Mike Cameron for the season and picked up Jason Lane to get some outfield help. Tall Chris Young started in San Francisco for the Padres and he was knocked around for seven runs and the Giants won 9-4.

Idle Arizona saw its lead in the divsion grow to 3 games and its magic number to clinch the division is 4. Arizona will be in Pittsburgh for three games and finish with three at Colorado.

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

Milwaukee went back home and got well with a 13-5 pounding of St. Louis. Prince Fielder hit his 48th home run and Ryan Braun hit his 33rd.

The Brewers trail Chicago by 3 games. Chicago's magic number is 4. The Cubs will be playing in Florida and Cincinnati to finish the season.

NL Wild Card (Andy Ashby Division):

San Diego's loss puts them in a dead-even tie with Philadelphia for the wild card. The Padres play their remaining games on the road, two more at San Francisco and four at Milwaukee. The Phillies play three at home against Atlanta and then three at home against Washington.

And Colorado is now just one game back of the Padres and Phillies. The Rockies have won eight straight and will play three in Los Angeles and then three at home against Arizona.

Tomorrow's pitching matchups for games with postseason implications:

Doug Davis (Arizona) vs Ian Snell (Pittsburgh), Chuck James (Atlanta) vs Jamie Moyer (Philadelphia), Ted Lilly (Chicago) vs Dontrelle Willis (Florida), Jason Bergmann (Washington) vs Tom Glavine (New York), Braden Looper (St. Louis) vs Jef Suppan (Milwaukee), Ubaldo Jimenez (Colorado) vs Brad Penny (Los Angeles), Brett Tomko (San Diego) vs Matt Cain (San Francisco)

The following teams are locked into their place in the standings:

• Toronto (3rd place, AL East)
• Cleveland (1st place, AL Central)
• Detroit (2nd place, AL Central)
• Minnesota (3rd place, AL Central)
• Los Angeles (1st place, AL West)
• Seattle (2nd place, AL West)
• San Francisco (5th place, NL West)

And now the second oldest stadium in use in the National League reverts back to being Dodger Stadium....

Poster Sam DC with a shot of one of the seats in the upper deck that had been painted white to mark where one of Frank Howard's home runs landed.

Austin Kearns catches the last out of the 8th inning. This is taken from the Flickr photostream of MissChatter. Her blog is Just Another Nats Fan.

Also from there is this shot of Ryan Langerhans just wondering Chase Utley's ball is going to land in the 9th. It would bounce over the wall for a double.

Most career grand slams as a pinch hitter - 3, Rich Reese, Ron Northey, and Willie McCovey, and Ben Broussard

Looking at this list, you may think that one person may not belong in the set. Or perhaps three people belong and one person does not. It's all a matter of perspective.

Nevertheless, a pinch-hit grand slam is an unusual event anyway you look at it.

Continue reading...

Two teams clinch postseason spots and in their honor, the divisions will be renamed for the player I deem to be the best one to have played his entire career with that franchise. So without further ado.

AL Central (Bob Feller Division):

Cleveland won the AL Central for the first time since 2001 with a 6-2 win over Oakland at Jacobs Field. For the time being, Cleveland also owns the best record in the AL, but it is by just 1/2 game over the Angels and Red Sox. The Indians would get a tiebreaker edge over the Angels, but lose to the Red Sox. Cleveland's potential first round opponent, New York, won all six games against the Indians this year.

Detroit still has a faint hope for the wild card after beating Kansas City 7-4. Justin Verlander won his 18th.

Minnesota beat Chicago 7-1 and Kevin Slowey struck out nine. It was likely Torii Hunter's last game in Minneapolis as a Twin.

AL West (Tim Salmon Division):

The Los Angeles Angels clinched their third AL West title since the three-division format started in 1994 with a 7-4 win over the Mariners. John Lackey won his 18th game and Casey Kotchman and Maicer Izturis homered. Seattle can be eliminated with a Yankee win Monday afternoon.

Texas shut out Baltimore 3-0.

AL East (Pee-Wee Wanninger Division):

Although the Red Sox have clinched a playoff spot, their divisional title hopes are still up in the air. The Red Sox had their lead cut to 1 1/2 games after losing to Tampa Bay, 5-4.

The Yankees held on to beat Toronto 7-5 with Joba Chamberlain getting the save and Jose Molina driving in three runs.

Boston's magic number to win the division is 6. New York's magic number to win the division is 8 as they would just need to tie the Red Sox to be named division champs. The extra game in the standings will be taken care of tomorrow when the Yankees host Toronto while the Red Sox are off.

Boston finishes up at home with two against Oakland and four against Minnesota. The Yankees will be on the road to play three in Baltimore and three in Tampa Bay.

AL Wild Card (Dave Collins Division):

The Yankees have a magic number of 2 to clinch a playoff spot. They lead Detroit by 5 1/2 games. They lead Seattle by 7. The Yankees will clinch a playoff spot with a win over Toronto and a Detroit loss to Minnesota.

Tomorrow's pitching matchups that affect something about the postseason:

A.J. Burnett (Toronto) vs Andy Pettitte (New York), Carlos Silva (Minnesota) vs Nate Robertson (Detroit), Ervin Santana (Los Angeles) vs Armando Galarraga (Texas)

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

Remember when this division was a 3-team race? Remember when it seemed like first place changed hands a lot? That's likely not going to happen now.

The Cubs lead Milwaukee by 3 1/2 games and have a magic number of 4. Chicago handed the Pirates their ninth straight defeat and it wasn't close. Chicago won 8-0.

The Brewers led Atlanta 4-1, but the bullpen could not hold on to the lead again and lost 7-4.

The Reds squandered a 4-0 lead against the Giants in San Francisco and lost 5-4.

The Cardinals gave the home fans one last thrill, rallying to score three runs in the ninth off of Brad Lidge to beat the Astros 4-3. Albert Pujols came off the bench to drive in run #99 and Rick Ankiel hit a 2-run triple to end it.

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

The Mets beat the Marlins 7-6 in 11 innings. Billy Wagner blew a save in the ninth. David Wright won it in the 11th with an RBI single off of Harvey Garcia. 16 pitchers saw action in the game.

The Phillies fell to 2 1/2 games back after losing the final game played at RFK to the Nats, 5-3. Ryan Howard tied Adam Dunn's major league record for strikeouts at 195. The Nats finished their tenure at RFK with a record of 122-121. Chase Utley hit the last homer at RFK and that was on Saturday. The last National to homer at RFK was D'Angelo Jimenez back on September 18 off of Scott Schoeneweis of the Mets. The last batter was Jayson Werth who struck out against Chad Cordero.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

First place Arizona used an octet of pitchers against the Dodgers. And it didn't help as the Dodgers won 7-1. Their magic number to win the division is 5 and to clinch a playoff spot is 4.

Arizona leads by 2 1/2 games over San Diego, which was swept by Colorado 7-3. Garret Atkins got an inside-the-park home run when Mike Cameron missed a diving catch and then had Milton Bradley step on his hand. Later, Bradley was ejected by first base umpire Mike Winters for reasons that are subject to dispute. When manager Bud Black tried to keep Bradley from getting into more trouble, he wrestled Bradley to the ground, hurting Bradley's knee. Black was ejected two batters later AFTER Kevin Kouzmanoff had doubled in a run.

NL Wild Card (Andy Ashby Division):

The Padres lead Philadelphia by 1/2 game and that odd game will be made up tomorrow when the Padres play in San Francisco while the Phillies are off. The Rockies, who have won eight straight and a franchise-record 84 in total, are now just 1 1/2 games back.

The Padres finish up with games at San Francisco and Milwaukee. The Phillies play at home against Atlanta and Washington. Colorado plays three in Los Angeles and three at home against Arizona.

Tomorrow's pitching matchups for games that might influence the postseason:

Matt Chico (Washington) vs Mike Pelfrey (New York), Adam Wainwright (St. Louis) vs Dave Bush (Milwaukee), Tall Chris Young (San Diego) vs Barry Zito (San Francisco).

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim clinched the AL West and playoff spot with a 7-4 win over the Seattle Mariners. They are third team in the AL to clinch a spot.

The Cleveland Indians became the second team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot as they wrapped up the AL Central title with a 6-2 win over Oakland at home.

AL East (Pee-Wee Wanninger Division):

The Red Sox clinched a playoff spot as they rallied in the ninth to beat Tampa Bay, 8-6.

The Yankees are 2 1/2 games back after they won a 5 hour, 10-inning game that featured 18 pitchers from both sides. New York beat Toronto 12-11 and there were no home runs in the game either. Toronto used eight pitchers and all but one was charged with at least one run. The pitcher who didn't give up a run was Scott Downs and he gave up a hit to the only batter he faced.

Boston has also reclaimed the top spot in the AL.

AL Central (Vito Valentinetti Division):

Cleveland missed a chance to pop open champagne after losing to Oakland 9-3. They will have another chance to do it at home Sunday.

Detroit lost to Kansas City 7-4 to lower Cleveland's magic number to 1 and also put the Red Sox into the playoffs.

Cleveland can win the division tomorrow with a win or a Detroit loss.

AL West (John Montague Division):

Miguel Batista started for Seattle and went 5 1/3 innings to get the win for Seattle. Five relievers followed: Sean Green, Eric O'Flaherty, Cha Seung Baek, Ryan Rowland-Smith, and George Sherill. They all got holds. The last pitcher, J.J. Putz, got a save. Seattle kept the Angels from clinching with a 3-2 win.

The Mariners will be eliminated from the AL West with a loss Sunday and from playoff contention completely if they lose and the Yankees win.

AL Wild Card (Dave Collins Division):

The Yankees lead Detroit by 6 1/2 and their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 3.

Tomorrow's pitching matchups with postseason implications:

Jorge De La Rosa (Kansas City) vs Justin Verlander (Detroit), Dallas Braden (Oakland) vs Jake Westbrook (Cleveland), Dustin McGowan (Toronto) vs Mike Mussina (New York), Tim Wakefield (Boston) vs Edwin Jackson (Tampa Bay), Jeff Weaver (Seattle) vs John Lackey (Los Angeles).

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

The race here is looking like it's Chicago's to lose. The Cubs rolled over Pittsburgh again 9-5. The Cubs lead Milwaukee by 2 1/2 games. The Cubs magic number is 6.

The Brewers lost in Atlanta, 4-3 in 11 innings, after Francisco Cordero blew a save with two outs in the 10th when he gave up a home run to Scott Thorman.

ESPN has chosen the Cardinals and Astros to be the Sunday night game tomorrow. O Lord, what have we done to forsake you? Tell us who to smite! Please let it be Joe Morgan. Or possibly Rick Sutcliffe.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

Arizona, the little team that supposedly shouldn't be able to win, won again, beating the Dodgers at home 6-2. Arizona leads San Diego by 2 1/2 games and has a magic number of 6 to win the division and 5 to make the playoffs. The Dodgers can be eliminated Sunday if they lose and San Diego wins.

The Padres lost at home again to the Rockies, who have won seven straight games. The Rockies won 6-2 with Ryan Speier getting the win. Speier relieved Mark Redman in the fifth with the bases loaded and one out with the Rockies up 3-2 and struck out Mike Cameron and got Scott Hairston to fly out.

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

The Mets had little trouble in beating the Marlins in Florida, winning 7-2.

Philadelphia remained 1 1/2 games back with a 4-1 win in 10 innings in the last night game played at RFK. The Mets magic number is 7.

NL Wild Card (Andy Ashby Division):

In what is now the closest race, the Padres lead the Phillies by just 1/2 game. The Rockies are 2 1/2 games back. The Padres have one more game left than the Phillies. That odd game will be made up Monday. The Padres finish with three at San Francisco and four at Milwaukee. The Phillies finish at home with three against Atlanta and three against Washington.

Tomorrow's matchups for games with postseason implications:

Cole Hamels (Philadelphia) vs Joel Hanrahan (Washington) in the last game at RFK, Chris Capuano (Milwaukee) vs Jo-Jo Reyes (Atlanta), John Maine (New York) vs Chris Seddon (Florida), Tom Gorzelanny (Pittsburgh) vs Carlos Zambrano (Chicago), Jeff Francis (Colorado) vs Greg Maddux (San Diego), Chad Billingsley (Los Angeles) vs Edgar Gonzalez (Arizona).

The Boston Red Sox became the first team to clinch a spot in the playoffs after beating Tampa Bay 8-6 combined with an earlier loss by Detroit. Boston's magic number to clinch the AL East is 6.

Since I'll be getting back late tonight, there will likely be no divisional roundup. You'll have to survive.

But I can tell you that the Angels missed another chance to clinch a playoff spot with a 3-2 loss at home to Seattle. The Angels will try again Sunday.

Cleveland can clinch the AL Central if they win tonight against Oakland and Detroit loses to Kansas City.

Boston can clinch a playoff spot if they beat Tampa Bay and Detroit loses to Kansas City.

The Yankees magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now 4 after a 12-11 win over Toronto.

The Cubs lead the Brewers by 2 1/2 games after the Cubs pounded Pittsburgh again and the Brewers blew a lead in extra innings and lost to Atlanta. Their magic number is 6.

The Mets lead the Phillies by two games at the moment. Their magic number is 7.

As for the NL West and NL wild card, check back later.

In the bottom of the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium, Josh Towers became the 17th pitcher used in the game between the Yankees and Blue Jays.

That actually beat the old AL record for a 9-inning game, which was 15 and last done on September 12, 2004 in a game between the Orioles and Yankees.

However, the game is going to extra innings. And now the mark to beat is 18.

Stay tuned ...

Jeff Karstens comes in for the Yankees as their 10th pitcher and the 18th in the game. Since Yankee starter Phil Hughes left after five innings, no Yankee pitcher has recorded more than three outs.

The alltime record for pitchers used in an extra-inning game is 11, set by Seattle on September 25, 1992. That game lasted 16 innings. The Yankees have just 12 more pitchers listed on their roster!

For those of you old school types, the AL and NL batting average races are fairly close heading to the final week.

In the AL, Magglio Ordonez of Detroit leads Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle by a margin of .354 to .350. Ichiro has 67 more at bats than Ordonez, which will make it harder for him to make up the difference.

In the NL, Chipper Jones of Atlanta is the leader at .340. Matt Holliday of Colorado is second at .337. Holliday has 123 more at bats than Jones.

Other races:

OBP

David Ortiz has the AL lead at .436 and that should get larger as long as Manny Ramirez is out. Ordonez is second at .426.

Todd Helton leads Chipper Jones in the NL OBP race by a margin of .432 to .427. Barry Bonds doesn't have enough PAs to qualify for the lead. He is 28 PAs short. He still might be able to claim the championship depending upon how many PAs he needs by the end of the year.

SLG

Alex Rodriguez has a huge lead over Ortiz, .638 to .598. Carlos Pena is at .597.

The NL race is very close with Prince Fielder of Milwaukee leading Holliday, .613 to .609. Jones is at .601.

There are presently six players in the majors (with enough PAs to qualify) with an OPS over 1.000 for the season: Rodriguez (1.051), Ortiz (1.034), Jones (1.028), Holliday (1.009), Ordonez (1.007), and Fielder (1.000).

And the collar size in Boston grew two sizes that day:

AL East (Pee-Wee Wanninger Division):

Anxiety levels dropped throughout New England as Josh Beckett won his 20th game as the Red Sox beat Tampa Bay and Scott Kazmir, 8-1. Tampa Bay rookie reliever Jeff Ridgway has now faced five batters in his career in two games and all five have reached safely and four of them have scored.

The Yankees looked like they were going to keep nipping at Boston's heels after they rallied to score four runs off of Roy Halladay in the 9th to send the game into extra innings. But the Yankees offense stopped there and Gregg Zaun homered in the 14th to give Toronto a 5-4 win.

Boston lowered its magic number to win the division to 7 as its lead grew to 2 1/2 games. Boston could also clinch a playoff spot tomorrow with a win combined with a Detroit loss.

Baltimore lost to Texas 3-2 and the game ended on a strikeout-CS DP.

AL Central (Vito Valentinetti Division):

Cleveland lowered its magic number to 2 and took over the #1 spot in the AL overall with a 4-3 win over Oakland at home. Fausto Carmona won his 18th.

Detroit kept its AL Central chances alive with a 5-4 win against the Royals at home. The Royals led 4-0 in the game.

Johan Santana now leads the AL in strikeouts and home runs allowed. The White Sox beat him 6-4.

AL West (John Montague Division):

The Angels were primed to become the first team in baseball to clinch a playoff spot. But they didn't. The Mariners, behind Jarrod Washburn and Brandon Morrow, shut out the Angels in Anaheim, 6-0.

Nevertheless, the Angels magic number is still 1 and if the Angels win one of the next two games against Seattle, it's over. The Mariners cannot be eliminated from the wild card any earlier than Sunday.

AL Wild Card (Dave Collins Division):

The Yankees lead Detroit by 5 1/2 games and have a magic number of 5 to make the playoffs.

Tomorrow's pitching matchups in games with postseason implications:

Shaun Marcum (Toronto) vs Roger Clemens Phil Hughes (New York), Miguel Batista (Seattle) vs Bartolo Colon (Los Angeles), Kyle Davies (Kansas City) vs Kenny Rogers (Detroit), Dan Haren (Oakland) vs Paul Byrd (Cleveland), Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston) vs Andy Sonnanstine (Tampa Bay)

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

The Mets survived a shaky start by Pedro Martinez and a 141-minute rain delay, but the Marlins helped out with six errors and a passed ball that led to eight unearned runs as they beat the Marlins 9-6. Scott Schoeneweis got his first save of the year as Billy Wagner was again unavailable.

The Phillies are still 1 1/2 games back after beating Washington for the second straight time at RFK, 6-3. Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, and Jimmy Rollins all hit home runs. The Mets magic number is 8.

For Atlanta, see below.

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

Chicago pounded error-prone Pittsburgh in the afternoon behind two three-run homers from Aramis Ramirez. The Cubs won 13-8.

Milwaukee was trailing Atlanta and Tim Hudson 1-0 in the eighth and had two outs and no one on before Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder singled. Corey Hart singled home Braun and he and Fielder moved up a base on an error by Jeff Francouer in right field. After Hudson intentionally walked Geoff Jenkins, reliever Ron Mahay came in and uninentionally walked pinch hitter Joe Dillon to force in a run. Bill Hall singled in another run and the Brewers tacked on another in the 9th to win it 4-1.

Houston gave St. Louis the death blow, 6-3 in the Mound City. Cincinnati is discussed elsewhere.

Chicago's magic number is 8, which is also the same number of games they have left.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

Arizona stretched its lead in the West to 1 1/2 games with a 12-3 hammering of the Dodgers.

The Padres lost to Colorado 2-1 in 14 innings. Rookie Franklin Morales matched Jake Peavy pitch for pitch, and almost got a 1-0 win, but Adrian Gonzalez tied the game up in the 9th off of Manny Corpas with a home run.

In the 12th inning, Brad Hawpe of the Rockies ended a rally with a baserunning gaffe. And in the 14th, Hawpe homered off of Joe Thatcher to give the Rockies the win. The Padres had just four hits. The last team to get just four hits in 14 innings was Washington against Houston on July 24, 2005.

Arizona's magic number is 8 to win the division and 6 to clinch a playoff spot. San Diego's loss means that the Dodgers cannot be eliminated until Sunday at the earliest.

The Giants announced Barry Bonds wouldn't be back in 2008. And he didn't play against the Reds, but the fans got to see a different beloved vet, Omar Vizquel, hit a home run. But the Giants blew an 8-3 lead in the eighth and lost 9-8 in 11 innings.

NL Wild Card (Andy Ashby Division):

San Diego leads Philadelphia by 1 1/2 games and Colorado by 3 1/2 games.

Tomorrow's pitching matchups in games with postseason implications:

Zach Duke (Pittsburgh) vs Rich Hill (Chicago), Yovani Gollardo (Milwaukee) vs John Smoltz (Atlanta), Oliver Perez (New York) vs Byung-Hyun Kim (Florida), Kyle Kendrick (Philadelphia) vs Tim Redding (Washington), David Wells (Los Angeles) vs Brandon Webb (Arizona), Mark Redman (Colorado) vs Jack Cassel (San Diego).

Scott Olsen of the Marlins pitched five innings against the Mets tonight and gave up eight runs, all of them unearned. He came out before the sixth. The Marlins made four errors, two each by Mike Jacobs and Miguel Cabrera as well as a passed ball from Miguel Olivo.

In the last 50 years, nine other pitchers had given up at least 8 runs in a game with none of them being earned. They are the rare mix of the mediocre and extremely unlucky, with the notable exception of Luis Tiant.

Andy Hawkins of the Yankees gave up 10 runs, all unearned in a start against the Orioles on June 5, 1989.

Hawkins gave up three unearned runs on a 2-out error by center fielder Jesse Barfield. The in the third, Steve Finley led off and reached on an error by Don Mattingly. Cal Ripken reached when Hawkins made a bad throw and Finley went to third. Mickey Tettleton hit a grounder to Steve Sax that he misplayed to allow Finley to score and send Ripken to third. Joe Orsulak singled in a run, but Tettleton was out going to third as Orsulak moved up. Jim Traber doubled home Orsulak. Larry Sheets got an intentional walk. Craig Worthington singled home Traber. Billy Ripken singled to load the bases. Yankees manager Dallas Green mercifully pulled Hawkins and replaced him with Churk Cary. Cary got Anderson to ground into a forceout (effectively the fifth out of the inning), but Finley followed with a grand slam.

Hawkins got into the game with a 6.29 ERA, gave up 10 runs in 2 1/3 innings, and left with an ERA of 6.08. What a country!

But you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.

The St. Louis Cardinals are the next most likely team to be eliminated from postseason play as they will be out if they lose tonight at home to Houston and Chicago wins this afternoon at home against the Pirates.

Then there could be a lull for at least a couple of days. The Dodgers could be eliminated on Saturday if they lose to Arizona and San Diego wins two against Colorado. The Rockies could be eliminated Sunday if they are swept by the Padres and Arizona takes two of three at home from Los Angeles.

In the AL, Seattle could be eliminated Saturday with two losses to the Angels while the Yankees win twice. Detroit will be eliminated if their losses and Yankeees win this weekend add up to five.

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

The New York Mets appeared to have stopped their slide after scoring four times in the ninth inning off of Florida's Kevin Gregg to take a 7-4 lead. Marlon Anderson's bases-loaded double was the big hit.

Then, with Billy Wagner unavailable, Willie Randolph opted for Pedro Feliciano. Jeremy Hermida singled on Feliciano's first pitch and Jorge Sosa came in. Miguel Cabrera doubled Hermida to third. Alfredo Amezaga grounded out to score Hermida to make it 7-5. Mike Jacobs reached on a David Wright throwing error as Cabrera scored to make it 7-6. Reggie Abercrombie pinch ran for Jacobs. Cody Ross followed with a blooper down the left field line and Abercrombie went to third and Ross moved up a base. Matt Treanor's ground out scored Abercrombie to tie the game.

The Marlins won it in the 10th when Dan Uggla's double off the left field wall scored Hanley Ramirez from first. The Marlins won 8-7 and had 20 hits.

Second place Philadelphia is now 1 1/2 games back after rallying from a 6-2 deficit in Washington to win 7-6. Jayson Werth came off the bench in the seventh to hit a 3-run pinch homer and Jimmy Rollins had a pair of doubles and scored the tying run and drove in the winning run. The Mets magic number stays at 9.

Atlanta? See below.

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

With the Cubs idle, the Brewers had an opportunity to pick up a half game in Atlanta. The Braves were starting Jeff Bennett, who hadn't pitched in the majors since 2004 when he was with the Brewers as a Rule 5 selection. Bennett struck out 8 Brewers in 5 2/3 innings pitched and the Braves bullpen closed out a 3-1 win for Atlanta at home.

Houston rookie catcher J.R. Towles set a franchise record with 8 RBI as he went 4 for 4 with two doubles and a home run (albeit off of Aaron Miles). The Astros won 18-1. It was just Towles' sixth major league game and the Baseballreference.com Play Index turned up no instances of any player driving in 8 runs in a game before his sixth game. (The earliest instance had been Jason Bay's 8 RBI game in his 21st game.) Several players have had games with 9 totals bases that early in their career and Justin Upton did it this year in his fifth game.

St. Louis will be eliminated Friday with a loss to Houston and a Chicago win over Pittsburgh. 10 of the 16 entries in the Griddle contest had St. Louis as one of the final five teams.

Cincinnati? Really? See below.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

First place Arizona was off and had its lead sliced in half to 1/2 game as San Diego won its seventh straight, completing a four-game sweep over the Pirates at Petco, 6-3.

And there was another sweep in the West as Colorado took a four-game series with a 9-4 win over the Dodgers at Coors Field.

The Rockies sweep made their three-game series with the Padres somewhat relevant to both teams now. The DBacks host Los Angeles over the weekend. Arizona's magic number to make the playoffs is 8. The DBacks also hold the tiebreaker edge over the Padres. The extra game will be made up on Monday when Arizona is off while San Diego plays in San Francisco.

The Reds and Giants series could have been a chance for fans to watch Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey put on a contest to hit balls out in to San Francisco Bay. But they're both injured (Griffey for the rest of the year) and so the fans got to see Jason Ellison hit a home run instead. The Reds won 4-2.

NL Wild Card (Andy Ashby Division):

San Diego leads Philadelaphia by 2 1/2 games. Their magic number for making the playoffs is 8.

Tomorrow's pitching matchups for games with postseason implications:

Paul Maholm (Pittsburgh) vs Jason Marquis (Chicago), Carlos Villanueva (Milwaukee) vs Tim Hudson (Atlanta), Pedro Martinez (New York) vs Scott Olsen (Florida), Adam Eaton (Philadelphia) vs Shawn Hill (Washington), Esteban Loaiza (Los Angeles) vs Livan Hernandez (Arizona), Franklin Morales (Colorado) vs Jake Peavy (San Diego).

AL West (John Montague Division):

Los Angeles won a contentious 9-4 game at home against Seattle to stretch its lead to 9 1/2 games and lower its magic number to 1. Two of the sixteen entries in the Griddle contest had Seattle as one of the last five teams eliminated. However, Seattle will still be alive in the wild card race regardless of the outcome of tonight's game.

The Angels can be the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a win Friday night. The Angels also moved into first place overall in the AL, although Cleveland and Boston have one more game to play than the Angels and also hold tiebreaker edges over the Angels. The Angels finish up their season with six games on the road at Texas and Oakland.

The Rangers led Baltimore 1-0 going to the ninth, but Joaquin Benoit couldn't hold on to the lead and the Orioles won in 10 innings 6-3.

AL East (Pee-Wee Wanninger Division):

Everybody but the Orioles took today off. Boston will be in Tampa Bay for its last road series of the year. They will finish up at home against Oakland and Minnesota. The Yankees play a four-game series that wraps around the weekend with Toronto. Then they go on the road to play Tampa Bay and Baltimore. Boston leads by 1 1/2 games with a magic number of 9. Boston's magic number to make the playoffs is 3.

AL Central (Vito Valetinetti Division):

Division-leading Cleveland had the day off as did second place Detroit. Cleveland leads by 7 1/2 games and has a magic number of 3.

Third place Minnesota had the day off. But Kansas City moved back into fourth place as they split their four-game series with the White Sox.

AL Wild Card (Dave Collins Division):

New York leads Detroit by 5 1/2 games and has a magic number of 5 to clinch a playoff spot.

Tomorrow's pitching matchups for games with postseason implications:

Billy Buckner (Kansas City) vs Jair Jurrjens (Detroit), Joe Blanton (Oakland) vs Fausto Carmona (Cleveland), Roy Halladay (Toronto) vs Chien-Ming Wang (New York), Josh Beckett (Boston) vs Scott Kazmir (Tampa Bay).

Kazmir and Johan Santana are now both one strikeout behind Eric Bedard of Baltimore for the AL strikeout lead. Bedard is out for the year. Both Kazmir and Santana pitch Friday. The Twins will be in Chicago.

With the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers being celebrated this year, there has been a lot of discussion about the role of African-American players in baseball. Most of this is about how the numbers have decreased. However, the most prominent minority in baseball now are Latinos, who are some of the game's greatest stars. And yet, their status as a minority is sometimes almost dismissed by American fans.

Continue reading...

Gabe Kapler, who retired from the Boston Red Sox after the the 2006 season and managed single A Greenville this year, says he wants to make a comeback next year, preferably with the Red Sox.

Judging by Kapler's statistics before he retired the first time (primarily because of a torn achilles), I'm sure that the Red Sox will trade Jacoby Ellsbury to make room for him.

The Houston Astros will name former Phillies GM Ed Wade as their new GM today, according to several reports, including MLB.com.

Wade will take over permanently for Tim Purpura, who was fired along with manager Phil Garner in August.

Thanks to commenter sporky over at Dodger Thoughts.

Ack! Cough! ...

AL East (Pee-Wee Wanninger Division):

The Red Sox magic number is still 9 and this blog is starting to sound like a bad pressing of "The White Album."

Russ Adams of Toronto was the villain again as he turned a 2-1 game into a 6-1 Toronto win with a grand slam in the eighth off of Jonathan Papelbon. Boston slid all the way to the #3 spot in the overall AL standings and presently would start the playoffs on the road in Anaheim.

The Yankees are now just 1 1/2 games back and one game back in the AILC after a 2-1 win over Baltimore. The O's loaded the bases in the ninth against Mariano Rivera, but Scott Moore was caught looking to end the game. The Yankees win eliminated Toronto.

Both the Yankees and Red Sox are off Thursday. The Red Sox play at Tampa Bay over the weekend and the Yankees will host Toronto.

Tampa Bay? They lost. Look down.

AL Central (Vito Valentinetti Division):

Cleveland lowered its magic number to 3 and its lead in the division to 7 1/2 games as they completed a sweep of second place Detroit at home, 4-2, as C.C. Sabathia won his 18th game.

Cleveland and Detroit are both off Thursday. Cleveland hosts Oakland over the weekend and Detroit will have Kansas City visit.

The White Sox switched places with Kansas City for last place. Minnesota finished off a home sweep of Texas.

AL West (John Montague Division):

The Angels lowered their magic number to 3 and their lead stayed at 8 1/2 games after they edged Tampa Bay 2-1 as I looked on despite apparently suffering from a virus of some sort. You gotta watch hurt this time of year! Ervin Santana struck out 10 batters and the Angels struck out 14 overall. The Rays pitchers struck out 10.

Seattle turned things around a little too late, but still swept Oakland on the road with a 9-5 win.

Seattle plays in Anaheim Thursday to start a four-game series. Two wins by the Angels clinches the division.

AL Wild Card (Dave Collins Division):

The Yankees lead Detroit by 5 1/2 games and their magic number to make the playoffs is 5.

Only one game tomorrow in the AL with any postseason implications:

Ryan Feierabend (Seattle) vs Jared Weaver (Los Angeles). An Angels win moves them into the #1 spot in the AL temporarily although they would lose tiebreakers to the Red Sox and Indians.

NL Central (Ted Savage Division):

The Cubs reclaimed the yellow jersey and eliminated the Reds at the same time. Cincinnati and Chicago exchanged pairs of solo homers to make it 2-2 and Matt Murton drove home the winning run on a force play in the eighth to give Chicago a 3-2 win.

Milwaukee slipped back into second place after losing to Houston 5-4 in 10 innings. The Brewers trailed 4-2 in the ninth, but tied it up on a 2-run homer by Rickie Weeks. Hunter Pence had the game-winning hit in the 10th.

Chicago is off Thursday and Milwaukee travels to Atlanta. The Braves actually have a better record than the Brewers, but almost no shot at the playoffs.

The patchwork Cardinals lineup (Scott Spiezio batting cleanup at first base, Miguel Cairo batting fifth at third base) had just enough to beat Philadelphia, 2-1 in 10 innings. The people of New York rejoiced. The people of Philadelphia realized that they had seen this before.

NL East (Rico Brogna Division):

The Mets stopped their skid with an 8-4 win at RFK over the Nationals. Mike Pelfrey got the win, but Jorge Sosa got the big outs. In the sixth inning, the Nats had runners on first and third with no outs and the Mets were up 5-3. Sosa struck out pinch hitter D'Angelo Jimenez and then got Nook Logan to ground into a double play.

With the Phillies loss, the Mets lead increased to 2 1/2 games and their magic number fell to 9. Both teams play tomorrow with Philadelphia playing in Washington and the Mets playing in Florida.

The Braves swept last place Florida at home.

NL West (Steve Finley Division):

Arizona held on to the best record in the NL West and the league overall with a 6-4 win at home over the Giants. Juan Cruz struck out one batter in the fifth and that was enough to get him credit for the win. Jose Valverde picked up save #46.

The Padres are just one game back after pulling out a 5-3 win thanks to a 2-out, 3-run homer by Scott Hariston off of Matt Capps of the Pirates.

Arizona is off Thursday while the Padres play the Pirates at home once more.

The Rockies hoped to make their three remaining games in San Diego relevant after pulling out a 6-5 win over the Dodgers at home.

NL Wild Card (Andy Ashby Division):

The Padres now lead Philadelphia by 2 1/2 games in the wild card and by 3 in the AILC. Colorado waves politely from 4 1/2 games back. San Diego's magic number to clinch a playoff spot is 9.

Tomorrow's pitching matchups for games with postseason implications:

Matt Morris (Pittsburgh) vs Brett Tomko (San Diego), Tom Glavine (New York) vs Dontrelle Willis (Florida), Kyle Lohse (Philadelphia) vs Jason Bergmann (Washington), Jeff Suppan (Milwaukee) vs Jeff Bennett (Atlanta)

The Cincinnati Reds were eliminated from postseason contention with a 3-2 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Chicago has 80 wins and the Reds have 83 losses. The Reds have also been eliminated from the wild card.